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diff --git a/old/djjrs10.txt b/old/djjrs10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddb0f66 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/djjrs10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25080 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren +#4 in our series by Alexander Maclaren + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Expositions of Holy Scripture + Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and First Book of Samuel, + Second Samuel, First Kings, and Second Kings chapters I to VII + +Author: Alexander Maclaren + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8068] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 11, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITIONS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Anne Folland +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +EXPOSITIONS OF +HOLY SCRIPTURE + +ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D. D., Litt. D. + + +DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, AND FIRST BOOK OF +SAMUEL + +SECOND SAMUEL, FIRST KINGS, AND SECOND KINGS _CHAPTERS I to +VII_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY + + +GOD'S FAITHFULNESS (Deut. vii. 9) +THE LESSON OF MEMORY (Deut. viii. 2) +THE EATING OF THE PEACE-OFFERING (Deut. xii. 18) +PROPHETS AND THE PROPHET (Deut. xviii. 9-22) +A CHOICE OF MASTERS (Deut. xxviii. 47, 48) +THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW (Deut. xxx. 11-20) +GOD'S TRUE TREASURE IN MAN (Deut. xxxii. 9; TITUS ii. l4) +THE EAGLE AND ITS BROOD (Deut. xxxii. 11) +THEIR ROCK AND OUR ROCK (Deut. xxxii. 31) +GOD AND HIS SAINTS (Deut. xxxiii. 3) +ISRAEL THE BELOVED (Deut. xxxiii. 12) +'AT THE BUSH' (Deut. xxxiii. 16) +SHOD FOR THE ROAD (Deut. xxxiii. 25) +A DEATH IN THE DESERT (Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6) + + +THE BOOK OF JOSHUA + + +THE NEW LEADER'S COMMISSION (Joshua i. 1-11) +THE CHARGE TO THE SOLDIER OF THE LORD (Joshua i. 7, 8) +THE UNTRODDEN PATH AND THE GUIDING ARK (Joshua iii. 4) +'THE WATERS SAW THEE; THEY WERE AFRAID' (Joshua iii. 5-17) +STONES CRYING OUT (Joshua iv. 10-24) +THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST (Joshua v. 14) +THE SIEGE OF JERICHO (Joshua vi. 10, 11) +RAHAB (Joshua vi. 25) +ACHAN'S SIN, ISRAEL'S DEFEAT (Joshua vii. 1-12) +THE SUN STAYED (Joshua x. 12) +UNWON BUT CLAIMED (Joshua xiii. 1-6) +CALEB-A GREEN OLD AGE (Joshua xiv. 6) +THE CITIES OF REFUGE (Joshua xx. 1-9) +THE END OF THE WAR (Joshua xxi. 43-45; xxii. 1-9) +THE NATIONAL OATH AT SHECHEM (Joshua xxiv. 19-28) + + +THE BOOK OF JUDGES + + +A SUMMARY OF ISRAEL'S FAITHLESSNESS AND GOD'S PATIENCE (Judges ii. 1-10) +ISRAEL'S OBSTINACY AND GOD'S PATIENCE (Judges ii. 11-23) +RECREANT REUBEN (Judges v. 16, R.V.) +'ALL THINGS ARE YOURS' (Judges v. 20; Job v. 23) +LOVE MAKES SUNS (Judges v. 31) +GIDEON'S ALTAR (Judges vi. 24) +GIDEON'S FLEECE (Judges vi. 37) +'FIT, THOUGH FEW'(Judges vii. 1-8) +A BATTLE WITHOUT A SWORD (Judges vii. 13-23) +STRENGTH PROFANED AND LOST (Judges xvi. 21-31) + + +THE BOOK OF RUTH + + +GENTLE HEROINE, A GENTILE CONVERT (Ruth i. 16-22) + + +THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL + + +THE CHILD PROPHET (1 Samuel iii. 1-14) +FAITHLESSNESS AND DEFEAT (1 Samuel iv. 1-18) +REPENTANCE AND VICTORY (1 Samuel vii, 1-12) +'MAKE US A KING' (1 Samuel viii. 4-20) +THE OLD JUDGE AND THE YOUNG KING (1 Samuel ix. 16-27) +THE KING AFTER MAN'S HEART (1 Samuel x. 17-27) +SAMUEL'S CHALLENGE AND CHARGE (1 Samuel xii. 1-15) +OLD TRUTH FOR A NEW EPOCH (1 Samuel xii. 13-25) +SAUL REJECTED (1 Samuel xv. 10-23) +THE SHEPHERD-KING (1 Samuel xvi. 1-13) +THE VICTORY OF UNARMED FAITH (1 Samuel xvii. 32-51) +A SOUL'S TRAGEDY (1 Samuel xviii. 5-16) +JONATHAN, THE PATTERN OF FRIENDSHIP (1 Samuel xx.1-13) +LOVE FOR HATE, THE TRUE _QUID PRO QUO_ (1 Samuel xxiv.4-17) +LOVE AND REMORSE (1 Samuel xxvi. 5-12; 21-25) +SAUL (1 Samuel xxviii. 15) +'WHAT DOEST THOU HERE?' (1 Samuel xxix. 3; I Kings +xix. 9) +THE SECRET OF COURAGE (1 Samuel xxx. 6) +AT THE FRONT OR THE BASE (1 Samuel xxx. 24) +THE END OF SELF-WILL (1 Samuel xxxi. 1-13) + + + + +THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY + + +GOD'S FAITHFULNESS + +'Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, +which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him.'--DEUT. vii. +9. + + +'Faithful,' like most Hebrew words, has a picture in it. It means +something that can be (1) leant on, or (2) builded on. + +This leads to a double signification--(1) trustworthy, and that because +(2) rigidly observant of obligations. So the word applies to a steward, +a friend, or a witness. Its most wonderful and sublime application is +to God. It presents to our adoring love-- + +I. God as coming under obligations to us. + +A marvellous and blessed idea. He limits His action, regards Himself as +bound to a certain line of conduct. + +1. Obligations from His act of creation. + +'A faithful Creator,' bound to take care of those whom He has made. To +supply their necessities. To satisfy their desires. To give to each the +possibility of discharging its ideal. + +2. Obligations from His past self. + +'God is faithful by whom ye were called,' therefore He will do all that +is imposed on Him by His act of calling. + +He cannot begin without completing. There are no abandoned mines. There +are no half-hewn stones in His quarries, like the block at Baalbec. And +this because the divine nature is inexhaustible in power and +unchangeable in purpose. + +3. Obligations from His own word. + +A revelation is presupposed by the notion of faithfulness. It is not +possible in heathenism. 'Dumb idols,' which have given their +worshippers no promises, cannot be thought of as faithful. By its grand +conception of Jehovah as entering into a covenant with Israel, the Old +Testament presents Him to our trust as having bound Himself to a known +line of action. Thereby He becomes, if we may so phrase it, a +constitutional monarch. + +That conception of a Covenant is the negation of caprice, of arbitrary +sovereignty, of mystery. We know the principles of His government. His +majestic 'I wills' cover the whole ground of human life and needs for +the present and the future. We can go into no region of life but we +find that God has defined His conduct to us there by some word spoken +to our heart and binding Him. + +4. Obligations from His new Covenant and highest word in Jesus Christ. + +'He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.' + +II. God as recognising and discharging these obligations. + +That He will do so comes from His very nature. With Him there is no +change of disposition, no emergence of unseen circumstances, no failure +or exhaustion of power. + +That He does so is matter of fact. Moses in the preceding context had +pointed to facts of history, on which he built the 'know therefore' of +the text. On the broad scale the whole world's history is full of +illustrations of God's faithfulness to His promises and His threats. +The history of Judaism, the sorrows of nations, and the complications +of national events, all illustrate this fact. + +The personal history of each of us. The experience of all Christian +souls. No man ever trusted in Him and was ashamed. He wills that we +should put Him to the proof. + +III. God as claiming our trust. + +He is faithful, worthy to be trusted, as His deeds show. + +Faith is our attitude corresponding to His faithfulness. Faith is the +germ of all that He requires from us. How much we need it! How firm it +might be! How blessed it would make us! + +The thought of God as 'faithful' is, like a precious stone, turned in +many directions in Scripture, and wherever turned it flashes light. +Sometimes it is laid as the foundation for the confidence that even our +weakness will be upheld to the end, as when Paul tells the Corinthians +that they will be confirmed to the end, because 'God is faithful, +through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son' (1 Cor. i. +9). Sometimes there is built on it the assurance of complete +sanctification, as when he prays for the Thessalonians that their +'whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the +coming of our Lord' and finds it in his heart to pray thus because +'Faithful is He that calleth you, who will also do it' (1 Thess. v. +24). Sometimes it is presented as the steadfast stay grasping which +faith can expect apparent impossibilities, as when Sara 'judged Him +faithful who had promised' (Heb. xi. 11). Sometimes it is adduced as +bringing strong consolation to souls conscious of their own feeble and +fluctuating faith, as when Paul tells Timothy that 'If we are +faithless, He abideth faithful; for He cannot deny Himself' (2 Tim. ii. +13). Sometimes it is presented as an anodyne to souls disturbed by +experience of men's unreliableness, as when the apostle heartens the +Thessalonians and himself to bear human untrustworthiness by the +thought that though men are faithless, God 'is faithful, who shall +establish you and keep you from evil' (2 Thess. in. 2, 3). Sometimes it +is put forward to breathe patience into tempted spirits, as when the +Corinthians are comforted by the assurance that 'God is faithful, who +will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able' (1 Cor. x. +13). Sometimes it is laid as the firm foundation for our assurance of +pardon, as when John tells us that 'If we confess our sins, He is +faithful and just to forgive us our sins' (1 John i. 9). And sometimes +that great attribute of the divine nature is proposed as holding forth +a pattern for us to follow, and the faith in it as tending to make us +in a measure steadfast like Himself, as when Paul indignantly rebuts +his enemies' charge of levity of purpose and vacillation, and avers +that 'as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay' (2 +Cor. L 18). + + + + +THE LESSON OF MEMORY + +'Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these +lofty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to +know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His +commandments, or no.'--DEUT. viii.2. + + +The strand of our lives usually slips away smoothly enough, but days +such as this, the last Sunday in a year, are like the knots on a +sailor's log, which, as they pass through his fingers, tell him how +fast it is being paid out from the reel, and how far it has run off. + +They suggest a momentary consciousness of the swift passage of life, +and naturally lead us to a glance backwards and forwards, both of which +occupations ought to be very good for us. The dead flat upon which some +of us live may be taken as an emblem of the low present in which most +of us are content to pass our lives, affording nowhere a distant view, +and never enabling us to see more than a street's length ahead of us. +It is a good thing to get up upon some little elevation and take a +wider view, backwards and forwards. + +And so now I venture to let the season preach to us, and to confine +myself simply to suggesting for you one or two very plain and obvious +thoughts which may help to make our retrospect wise and useful. And +there are two main considerations which I wish to submit. The first is +--what we ought to be chiefly occupied with as we look back; and +secondly, what the issue of such a retrospect ought to be. + +I. With what we should be mainly occupied as we look back. Memory, like +all other faculties, may either help us or hinder us. As is the man, so +will be his remembrance. The tastes which rule his present will +determine the things that he likes best to think about in the past. +There are many ways of going wrong in our retrospects. Some of us, for +instance, prefer to think with pleasure about things that ought never +to have been done, and to give a wicked immortality to thoughts that +ought never to have had a being. Some men's tastes and inclinations are +so vitiated and corrupted that they find a joy in living their +badnesses over again. Some of us, looking back on the days that are +gone, select by instinctive preference for remembrance, the vanities +and frivolities and trifles which were the main things in them whilst +they lasted. Such a use of the great faculty of memory is like the +folly of the Egyptians who embalmed cats and vermin. Do not let us be +of those, who have in their memories nothing but rubbish, or something +worse, who let down the drag-net into the depths of the past and bring +it up full only of mud and foulnesses, and of ugly monsters that never +ought to have been dragged into the daylight. + +Then there are some of us who abuse memory just as much by picking out, +with perverse ingenuity, every black bit that lies in the distance +behind us, all the disappointments, all the losses, all the pains, all +the sorrows. Some men look back and say, with Jacob in one of his +moods, 'Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life!' Yes! +and the same man, when he was in a better spirit, said, and a great +deal more truly, 'The God that fed me all my life long, the Angel which +redeemed me from all evil.' Do not paint like Rembrandt, even if you do +not paint like Turner. Do not dip your brush only in the blackness, +even if you cannot always dip it in molten sunshine. + +And there are some of us who, in like manner, spoil all the good that +we could get out of a wise retrospect, by only looking back in such a +fashion as to feed a sentimental melancholy, which is, perhaps, the +most profitless of all the ways of looking backwards. + +Now here are the two points, in this verse of my text, which would put +all these blunders and all others right, telling us what we should +chiefly think about when we look back, and from what point of view the +retrospect of the past must be taken in order that it should be +salutary. 'Thou shalt remember all the way by which the Lord thy God +hath led thee.' Let memory work under the distinct recognition of +divine guidance in every part of the past. That is the _first_ +condition of making the retrospect blessed. 'To humble thee and to +prove thee, and to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest +keep His commandments, or no'; let us look back with a clear +recognition of the fact that the use of life is to test, and reveal, +and to make, character. This world, and all its outward engagements, +duties, and occupations, is but a scaffolding, on which the builders +may stand to rear the true temple, and when the building is reared you +may do what you like with the scaffolding. So we have to look back on +life from this point of view, that its joys and sorrows, its ups and +downs, its work and repose, the vicissitudes and sometimes contrariety +of its circumstances and conditions, are all for the purpose of making +_us_, and of making plain to ourselves, what we are. 'To humble +thee,' that is, to knock the self-confidence out of us, and to bring us +to say: 'I am nothing and Thou art everything; I myself am a poor weak +rag of a creature that needs Thy hand to stiffen me, or I shall not be +able to resist or to do.' That is one main lesson that life is meant to +teach us. Whoever has learnt to say by reason of the battering and +shocks of time, by reason of sorrows and failures, by reason of joys, +too, and fruition,--'Lord, I come to Thee as depending upon Thee for +everything,' has wrung its supreme good out of life, and has fulfilled +the purpose of the Father, who has led us all these years, to humble us +into the wholesome diffidence that says: 'Not in myself, but in Thee +are all my strength and my hope.' + +I need not do more than remind you of the other cognate purposes which +are suggested here. Life is meant, not only to bring us to humble self- +distrust, as a step towards devout dependence on God, but also to +reveal us to ourselves; for we only know what we are by reflecting on +what we have done, and the only path by which self-knowledge can be +attained is the path of observant recollection of our conduct in daily +life. + +Another purpose for which the whole panorama of life is made to pass +before us, and for which all the gymnastic of life exercises us, is +that we may be made submissive to the great Will, and may keep His +commandments. + +These thoughts should be with us in our retrospect, and then our +retrospect will be blessed: First, we are to look back and see God's +guidance everywhere, and second, we are to judge of the things that we +remember by their tendency to make character, to make us humble, to +reveal us to ourselves, and to knit us in glad obedience to our Father +God. + +II. And now turn to the other consideration which may help to make +remembrance a good, viz., the issues to which our retrospect must tend, +if it is to be anything more than sentimental recollection. + +First, let me say: Remember and be thankful. If what I have been saying +as to the standard by which events are to be tried be true; if it be +the case that the main fact about things is their power to mould +persons and to make character, then there follows, very plainly and +clearly, that all things that come within the sweep of our memory may +equally contribute to our highest good. + +Good does not mean pleasure. Bright-being may not always be well-being, +and the highest good has a very much nobler meaning than comfort and +satisfaction. And so, realising the fact that the best of things is +that they shall make us like God, then we can turn to the past and +judge it wisely, because then we shall see that all the diversity, and +even the opposition, of circumstances and events, may co-operate +towards the same end. Suppose two wheels in a great machine, one turns +from right to left and the other from left to right, but they fit into +one another, and they both produce one final result of motion. So the +moments in my life which I call blessings and gladness, and the moments +in my life which I call sorrows and tortures, may work into each other, +and they will do so if I take hold of them rightly, and use them as +they ought to be used. They will tend to the highest good whether they +be light or dark; even as night with its darkness and its dews has its +ministration and mission of mercy for the wearied eye no less than day +with its brilliancy and sunshine; even as the summer and the winter are +equally needful, and equally good for the crop. So in our lives it is +good for us, sometimes, that we be brought into the dark places; it is +good for us sometimes that the leaves be stripped from the trees, and +the ground be bound with frost. + +And so for both kinds of weather, dear brethren, we have to remember +and be thankful. It is a hard lesson, I know, for some of us. There may +be some listening to me whose memory goes back to this dying year as +the year that has held the sorest sorrow of their lives; to whom it has +brought some loss that has made earth dark. And it seems hard to tell +quivering lips to be thankful, and to bid a man be grateful though his +eyes fill with tears as he looks back on such a past. But yet it is +true that it is good for us to be drawn, or to be driven, to Him; it is +good for us to have to tread even a lonely path if it makes us lean +more on the arm of our Beloved. It is good for us to have places made +empty if, as in the year when Israel's King died, we shall thereby have +our eyes purged to behold the Lord sitting on the Royal Seat. + + 'Take it on trust a little while, + Thou soon shalt read the mystery right, + In the full sunshine of His smile.' + +And for the present let us try to remember that He dwelleth in the +darkness as in the light, and that we are to be thankful for the things +that help us to be near Him, and not only for the things that make us +outwardly glad. So I venture to say even to those of you who may be +struggling with sad remembrances, remember and be thankful. + +I have no doubt there are many of us who have to look back, if not upon +a year desolated by some blow that never can be repaired, yet upon a +year in which failing resources and declining business, or diminished +health, or broken spirits, or a multitude of minute but most disturbing +cares and sorrows, do make it hard to recognise the loving Hand in all +that comes. Yet to such, too, I would say: 'All things work together +for good,' therefore all things are to be embraced in the thankfulness +of our retrospect. + +The second and simple practical suggestion that I make is this: +Remember, and let the memory lead to contrition. Perhaps I am speaking +to some men or women for whom this dying year holds the memory of some +great lapse from goodness; some young man who for the first time has +been tempted to sensuous sin; some man who may have been led into +slippery places in regard to business integrity. I draw a 'bow at a +venture' when I speak of such things--perhaps some one is listening to +me who would give a great deal if he or she could forget a certain past +moment of this dying year, which makes their cheeks hot yet whilst they +think of it. To such I say: Remember, go close into the presence of the +black thing, and get the consciousness of it driven into your heart; +for such remembrance is the first step to deliverance from the load, +and to your passing, emancipated from the bitterness, into the year +that lies before you. + +But even if there are none of us to whom such remarks would specially +apply, let us summon up to ourselves the memories of these bygone days. +In all the three hundred and sixty-five of them, my friend, how many +moments stand out distinct before you as moments of high communion with +God? How many times can you remember of devout consecration to Him? How +many, when--as visitors to the Riviera reckon the number of days in the +season in which, far across the water, they have seen Corsica--you can +remember this year to have beheld, faint and far away, 'the mountains +that are round about' the 'Jerusalem that is above'? How many moments +do you remember of consecration and service, of devotion to your God +and your fellows? Oh! what a miserable, low-lying stretch of God- +forgetting monotony our lives look when we are looking back at them in +the mass. One film of mist is scarcely perceptible, but when you get a +mile of it you can tell what it is--oppressive darkness. One drop of +muddy water does not show its pollution, but when you have a pitcherful +of it you can see how thick it is. And so a day or an hour looked back +upon may not reveal the true godlessness of the average life, but if +you will take the twelvemonth and think about it, and ask yourself a +question or two about it, I think you will feel that the only attitude +for any of us in looking back across a stretch of such brown barren +moorland is that of penitent prayer for forgiveness and for cleansing. + +But I dare say that some of you say: 'Oh! I look back and I do not feel +anything of that kind of regret that you describe; I have done my duty, +and nobody can blame me. I am quite comfortable in my retrospect. Of +course there have been imperfections; we are all human, and these need +not trouble a man.' Let me ask you, dear brother, one question: Do you +believe that the law of a man's life is, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy +God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy +strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself'? Do you +believe that that is what you ought to do? Have you done it? If you +have not, let me beseech you not to go out of this year, across the +artificial and imaginary boundary that separates you from the next, +with the old guilt upon your back, but go to Jesus Christ, and ask Him +to forgive you, and then you may pass into the coming twelvemonth +without the intolerable burden of unremembered, unconfessed, and +therefore unforgiven, sin. + +The next point that I would suggest is this: Let us remember in order +that from the retrospect we may gain practical wisdom. It is +astonishing what unteachable, untamable creatures men are. They learn +wisdom about all the little matters of daily life by experience, but +they do not seem to do so about the higher. Even a sparrow comes to +understand a scarecrow after a time or two, and any rat in a hole will +learn the trick of a trap. But you can trick men over and over again +with the same inducement, and, even whilst the hook is sticking in +their jaws, the same bait will tempt them once more. That is very +largely the case because they do not observe and remember what has +happened to them in bygone days. + +There are two things that any man, who will bring his reason and +common-sense to bear upon the honest estimate and retrospect of the +facts of his life, may be fully convinced of. These are, first, his own +weakness. One main use of a wise retrospect is to teach us where we are +weakest. What an absurd thing it would be if the inhabitants of a Dutch +village were to let the sea come in at the same gap in the same dyke a +dozen times! What an absurd thing it would be if a city were captured +over and over again by assaults at the same point, and did not +strengthen its defences there! But that is exactly what you do; and all +the while, if you would only think about your own past lives wisely and +reasonably, and like men with brains in your heads, you might find out +where it was that you were most open to attack; what it was in your +character that most needed strengthening, what it was wherein the devil +caught you most quickly, and might so build yourselves up in the most +defenceless points. + +Do not look back for sentimental melancholy; do not look back with +unavailing regrets; do not look back to torment yourselves with useless +self-accusation; but look back to see how good God has been, and look +back to see where you are weak, and pile the wall, higher there, and so +learn practical wisdom from retrospect. + +Another phase of the practical wisdom which memory should give is +deliverance from the illusions of sense and time. Remember how little +the world has ever done for you in bygone days. Why should you let it +befool you once again? If it has proved itself a liar when it has +tempted you with gilded offers that came to nothing, and with beauty +that was no more solid than the 'Easter-eggs' that you buy in the +shops--painted sugar with nothing inside--why should you believe it +when it comes to you once more? Why not say: 'Ah! once burnt, twice +shy! You have tried that trick on me before, and I have found it out!' +Let the retrospect teach us how hollow life is without God, and so let +it draw us near to Him. + +The last thing that I would say is: 'Let us remember that we may hope. +It is the prerogative of Christian remembrance, that it merges into +Christian hope. The forward look and the backward look are really but +the exercise of the same faculty in two different directions. Memory +does not always imply hope, we remember sometimes because we do not +hope, and try to gather round ourselves the vanished past because we +know it never again can be a present or a future. But when we are +occupied with an unchanging Friend, whose love is inexhaustible, and +whose arm is unwearied, it is good logic to say: 'It has been, +therefore it shall be.' + +With regard to this fleeting life, it is a delusion to say 'to-morrow +shall be as this day, and much more abundant'; but with regard to the +life of the soul that lives in God, that is true, and true for ever. +The past is a specimen of the future. The future for the man who lives +in Christ is but the prolongation, and the heightening into superlative +excellence and beauty, of all that is good in the past and in the +present. As the radiance of some rising sun may cast its bright beams +into the opposite sky, even so the glowing past behind us flings its +purples and its golds and its scarlets on to the else dim curtain of +the future. + +Remember that you may hope. A paradox, but a paradox that is a truth in +the case of Christians whose memory is of a God that has loved and +blessed them whose hope is in a God that changes never; whose memory is +charged with 'every good and perfect gift that came down from the +Father of Lights,' whose hope is in that same Father, 'with whom is no +variableness, neither shadow of turning.' So on every stone of +remembrance, every Ebenezer on which is graved: 'Hitherto hath the Lord +helped us,' we can mount a telescope--if I may so say--that will look +into the furthest glories of the heavens, and be sure that the past +will be magnified and perpetuated in the future. Our prayer may +legitimately be; 'Thou hast been my help, leave me not, neither forsake +me!' And His answer will be: 'I will not leave thee until I have done +that which I have spoken to thee of.' Remember that you may hope, and +hope because you remember. + + + + +THE EATING OF THE PEACE-OFFERING + +'But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the +Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy +manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy +gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou +puttest thine hands unto.'--DEUT. xii. 18. + + +There were three bloody sacrifices, the sin-offering, the burnt- +offering, and the peace-offering. In all three expiation was the first +idea, but in the second of them the act of burning symbolised a further +thought, namely, that of offering to God, while in the third, the +peace-offering, there was added to both of these the still further +thought of the offerer's participation with God, as symbolised by the +eating of the sacrifice. So we have great verities of the most +spiritual religion adumbrated in this external rite. The rind is hard +and forbidding, the kernel is juicy and sweet. + +I. Communion with God based on atonement. + +II. Feeding on Christ. + +What was sacrifice becomes food. The same Person and facts, apprehended +by faith, are, in regard to their bearing on the divine government, the +ground of pardon, and in regard to their operation within us, the +source of spiritual sustenance. Christ for us is our pardon; Christ in +us is our life. + +III. The restoration to the offerer of all which he lays on God's +altar. + +The sacrifice was transformed and elevated into a sacrament. By being +offered the sacrifice was ennobled. The offerer did not lose what he +laid on the altar, but it came back to him, far more precious than +before. It was no longer mere food for the body, and to eat it became +not an ordinary meal, but a sacrament and means of union with God. It +was a hundredfold more the offerer's even in this life. All its savour +was more savoury, all its nutritive qualities were more nutritious. It +had suffered a fiery change, and was turned into something more rich +and rare. + +That is blessedly true as to all which we lay on God's altar. It is far +more ours than it ever was or could be, while we kept it for ourselves, +and our enjoyment of, and nourishment from, our good things, when +offered as sacrifices, are greater than when we eat our morsel alone. +If we make earthly joys and possessions the materials of our sacrifice, +they will not only become more joyful and richer, but they will become +means of closer union with Him, instead of parting us from Him, as they +do when used in selfish disregard of Him. + +Nor must we forget the wonderful thought, also mirrored in this piece +of ancient ritual, that God delights in men's sacrifices and surrenders +and services. 'If I were hungry, I would not tell thee,' said the +Psalmist in God's name in regard to outward sacrifices; 'Will I eat the +flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?' But he does 'eat' the +better sacrifices that loving hearts or obedient wills lay on His +altar. He seeks for these, and delights when they are offered to Him. +'He hungered, and seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He came to it.' He +still hungers for the fruit that we can yield to Him, and if we will, +He will enter in and sup with us, not disdaining to sit at the poor +table which we can spread for Him, nor to partake of the humble fare +which we can lay upon it, but mending the banquet by what He brings for +_our_ nourishment, and hallowing the hour by His presence. + + + + +PROPHETS AND THE PROPHET + +'When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, +thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10. +There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his +daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an +observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11. Or a charmer, or a +consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12. For +all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because +of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before +thee. 13. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. 14. For these +nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, +and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered +thee so to do. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet +from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye +shall hearken; 16. According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy +God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again +the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any +more, that I die not. 17. And the Lord said unto me, They have well +spoken that which they have spoken. 18. I will raise them up a Prophet +from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His +mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him. 19. +And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words +which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him. 20. But the +prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have +not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other +gods, even that prophet shall die. 21. And if thou say in thine heart, +How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? 22. When a +prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor +come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the +prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of +him.'--DEUT. xviii. 9-22. + + +It is evident from the connection in which the promise of 'a prophet +like unto Moses' is here introduced that it does not refer to Jesus +only; for it is presented as Israel's continuous defence against the +temptation of seeking knowledge of the divine will by the illegitimate +methods of divination, soothsaying, necromancy, and the like, which +were rampant among the inhabitants of the land. A distant hope of a +prophet in the far-off future could afford no motive to shun these +superstitions. We cannot understand this passage unless we recognise +that the direct reference is to the institution of the prophetic order +as the standing means of imparting the reliable knowledge of God's +will, possessing which, Israel had no need to turn to them 'that peep +and mutter' and bring false oracles from imagined gods. But that +primary reference of the words does not exclude, but rather demands, +their ultimate reference to Him in whom the divine word is perfectly +enshrined, and who is the bright, consummate flower of the prophetic +order, which 'spake of Him,' not only in its individual predictions, +but by its very existence. + +A glance must be given to the exhaustive list of pretenders to +knowledge of the future or to power of shaping it magically, which +occurs in verses 10,11, and suggests a terrible picture of the burdens +of superstition which weighed on men in these days of ignorance, as the +like burdens do still, wherever Jesus is not known as the one Revealer +of God, and the sole Lord of all things. Of the eight terms employed, +the first three refer to different means of reading the future, the +next two to different means of influencing events, and the last three +to different ways of consulting the dead. The first of these eight +properly refers to drawing lots, but includes other methods; the second +is an obscure word, which is supposed by some to mean a 'murmurer,' and +may refer rather to the low mutterings of the soothsayer than to the +method of his working; the third is probably a general expression for +an interpreter of omens, especially of those given by the play of +liquid in a 'cup,' such as Joseph 'divined' by. + +Two names for magicians follow, of which the former seems to mean one +who worked with charms such as African or American Indian 'medicine +men' use, and the latter, one who binds by incantations, or one who +ties magic knots, which are supposed to have the power of hindering the +designs of the person against whom they are directed. The word employed +means 'binding,' and maybe used either literally or metaphorically. The +malicious tying of knots in order to work harm is not dead yet in some +backward corners of Britain. Then follow three names for traffickers +with spirits,--those who raise ghosts as did the witch of Endor, those +who have a 'familiar spirit,' and those who in any way consult the +dead. It is a grim catalogue, bearing witness to the deep-rooted +longing in men to peer into the darkness ahead, and to get some +knowledge of the purposes of the awful unseen Power who rules there. +The longing is here recognised as legitimate, while the methods are +branded as bad, and Israel is warned from them, by being pointed to the +merciful divine institution which meets the longing. + +It is clear, from this glance at the context, that the 'prophet' +promised to Israel must mean the order, not the individual; and it is +interesting to note, first, the relation in which that order is +presented as standing towards all that rabble of diviners and +sorcerers, with their rubbish of charms and muttered spells. It sweeps +them off the field, because it is truly what they pretend to be. God +knows men's longings, and God will meet them so far as meeting them is +for men's good. But the characteristics of the prophet are set in +strong contrast to those of the diviners and magicians, and lift the +order high above all the filth and folly of these others. First, the +prophet is 'raised up' by God; the individual holder of the office has +his 'call' and does not 'prophesy out of his own heart.' The man who +takes this office on himself without such a call is _ipso facto_ +branded as a false prophet. Then he is 'from the midst of thee, of thy +brethren,'--springing from the people, not an alien, like so many of +these wandering soothsayers, but with the national life throbbing in +his veins, and himself participant of the thoughts and emotions of his +brethren. Then he is to be 'like unto' Moses,--not in all points, but +in his receiving direct communications from God, and in his authority +as God's messenger. The crowning characteristic, 'I will put My words +into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command +him,' invests his words with divine authority, calls for obedience to +them as the words of God Himself, widens out his sphere far beyond that +of merely foretelling, brings in the moral and religious element which +had no place in the oracles of the soothsayer, and opens up the +prospect of a continuous progressive revelation throughout the ages +('all that I _shall_ command him'). We mutilate the grand idea of +the prophet in Israel if we think of his work as mainly prediction, and +we mutilate it no less if we exclude prediction from it. We mutilate it +still more fatally if we try to account for it on naturalistic +principles, and fail to see in the prophet a man directly conscious of +a divine call, or to hear in his words the solemn accents of the voice +of God. + +The loftiness and the limitations of 'the goodly fellowship of the +prophets' alike point onwards to Jesus Christ. In Him, and in Him +alone, the idea of the prophet is fully realised. The imperfect +embodiments of it in the past were prophecies as well as prophets. The +fact that God has 'spoken unto the fathers by the prophets,' leads us +to expect that He will speak 'to us in a Son,' and that not by +fragments of His mighty voice, but in one full, eternal, all-embracing +and all-sufficient Word. Every divine idea, which has been imperfectly +manifested in fragmentary and sinful men and in the material creation, +is completely incarnated in Him. He is the King to whom the sins and +the saintlinesses of Israel's kings alike pointed. He is the Priest, +whom Aaron and his sons foreshadowed, who perfectly exercises the +sympathy which they could only feel partially, because they were +compassed with infirmity and self-regard, and who offers the true +sacrifice of efficacy higher than 'the blood of bulls and goats.' He is +the Prophet, who makes all other means of knowing the divine will +unnecessary, hearing whom we hear the very voice of God speaking in His +gentle words of love, in His authoritative words of command, in His +illuminating words of wisdom, and speaking yet more loudly and heart- +touchingly in the eloquence of deeds no less than divine; who is 'not +ashamed to call us brethren,' and is 'bone of our bone and flesh of our +flesh'; who is like, but greater than, the great lawgiver of Israel, +being the Son and Lord of the 'house' in which Moses was but a servant. +'To Him give all the prophets witness,' and the greatest of them was +honoured when, with Moses, Elijah stood on the Mount of +Transfiguration, subordinate and attesting, and then faded away when +the voice proclaimed, 'This is My beloved Son, hear Him,'--and they +'saw no one save Jesus only.' + + + + +A CHOICE OF MASTERS + +'Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with +gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48. Therefore shalt +thou serve thine enemies ... in want of all things: and He shall put a +yoke of iron upon thy neck, until He have destroyed thee.'--DEUT. +xxviii. 47, 48 + + +The history of Israel is a picture on the large scale of what befalls +every man. + +A service--we are all born to obedience, to depend on and follow some +person or thing. There is only a choice of services; and he who boasts +himself free is but a more abject slave, as the choice for a nation is +either the rule of settled order and the sanctities of an established +law, or the usurpation of a mob and the intolerable tyranny of +unbridled and irresponsible force. + +I. The service of God or the service of our enemies. + +Israel was the servant in turn of Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Assyria, +Babylon, Syria, and Rome. It was every invader's prey. God's invisible +arm was its only guard from these, and an all-sufficient guard as long +as it leaned on Him. When it turned from Him it fell under their yoke. +Its lawful Lord loved it; its tyrants hated it. + +So with us. We have to serve God or enemies. Our lusts, our passions, +the world, evil habits--in a word, our sins ring us round. God is the +only defence against them. + +The contrast between the one and the many--a king or an ochlocracy. The +contrast of the loving Lord and the hostile sins. + +II. A service which is honour or a service which is degradation. + +God alone is worthy of our absolute submission and service. How low a +man sinks when he is ruled by any lesser authority! Such obedience is a +crime against the dignity of human nature, and the soul is not without +a galling sense of this now and then, when its chains rattle. + +III. A service which is freedom because it is rendered by love, or a +service which is hard slavery. + +'With joy for the abundance of all things.' How sin palls upon us, and +yet we commit it. The will is overborne, conscience is stifled. + +IV. A service which feeds the spirit or a service which starves it. + +The soul can only in God get what it wants. Prison fare is what it +receives in the other service. The unsatisfying character of all sin; +it cloys, and yet leaves one hungry. It is 'that which satisfieth not.' +'Broken cisterns which hold no water.' + +V. A service which is life or a service which is death. + +The dark forebodings of the text grow darker as it goes on. The grim +slavery which it threatens as the only alternative to joyful service of +God is declared to be lifelong 'penal servitude,' and not only is there +no deliverance from it, but it directly tends to wear away the life of +the hopeless slaves. For the words that follow our text are 'and he +shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.' +That is dismally true in regard to any and every life that has shaken +off the service of God which is perfect freedom, and has persisted in +the service of sin. Such service is suicidal; it rivets an iron yoke on +our necks, and there is no locksmith who can undo the shackles and lift +it off, so long as we refuse to take service with God. Stubbornly +rebellious wills forge their own fetters. Like many a slave-owner, our +tyrants have a cruel delight in killing their slaves, and our sins not +only lead to death, but are themselves death. + +But there is a bright possibility before the most down-trodden vassal +of sin. 'The bond-servant abideth not in the house for ever.' He is not +a son of the house, but has been brought into it, stolen from his home. +He may be carried back to his Father's house, and there 'have bread +enough and to spare,' if a deliverer can be found. And He has been +found. Christ the Son makes us free, and if we trust Him for our +emancipation we 'shall be free indeed,' 'that we, being delivered out +of the hand of our enemies, should serve Him without fear, in holiness +and righteousness before Him all our days.' + + + + +THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW + +'For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden +from thee, neither is it far off. 12. It is not in heaven, that thou +shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, +that we may hear it, and do it? 13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that +thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto +us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14. But the word is very nigh unto +thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. 15. See, +I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16. +In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in +His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His +judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply; and the Lord thy God +shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17. But +if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be +drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18. I denounce unto +you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not +prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go +to possess it. 19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against +you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: +therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20. That +thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, +and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the +length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord +sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give +them.'--DEUT. xxx. 11-20. + + +This paragraph closes the legislation of this book, the succeeding +chapters being in the nature of an epilogue or appendix. It sums up the +whole law, makes plain its inmost essence and its tremendous +alternatives. As in the closing strains of some great symphony, the +themes which have run through the preceding movements are woven +together in the final burst of music. Let us try to discover the +component threads of the web. + +The first point to note is the lofty conception of the true essence of +the whole law, which is enshrined here. 'This commandment which I +command thee this day' is twice defined in the section (vs. 16, 20), +and in both instances 'to love Jehovah thy God' is presented as the +all-important precept. Love is recognised as the great commandment. +Leviticus may deal with minute regulations for worship, but these are +subordinate, and the sovereign commandment is love. Nor is the motive +which should sway to love omitted; for what a tender drawing by the +memories of what He had done for Israel is put forth in the name of +'Jehovah, _thy_ God!' The Old Testament system is a spiritual +system, and it too places the very heart of religion in love to God, +drawn out by the contemplation of his self-revelation in his loving +dealings with us. We have here clearly recognised that the obedience +which pleases God is obedience born of love, and that the love which +really sets towards God will, like a powerful stream, turn all the +wheels of life in conformity to His will. When Paul proclaimed that +'love is the fulfilling of the law,' he was only repeating the teaching +of this passage, when it puts 'to walk in His ways,' or 'to obey His +voice,' after 'to love Jehovah thy God.' Obedience is the result and +test of love; love is the only parent of real obedience. + +The second point strongly insisted on here is the blessedness of +possessing such a knowledge as the law gives. Verses 11-14 present that +thought in three ways. The revelation is not that of duties far beyond +our capacity: 'It is not too hard for thee.' No doubt, complete +conformity with it is beyond our powers, and entire, whole-hearted, and +whole-souled love of God is not attained even by those who love Him +most. Paul's position that the law gives the knowledge of sin, just +because it presents an impossible elevation in its ideal, is not +opposed to the point of view of this context; for he is thinking of +complete conformity as impossible, while it is thinking of real, though +imperfect, obedience as within the reach of all men. No man can love as +he ought; every man can love. It is blessed to have our obligations all +gathered into such a commandment. + +Again, the possession of the law is a blessing, because its +authoritative voice ends the weary quest after some reliable guide to +conduct, and we need neither try to climb to heaven, nor to traverse +the wide world and cross the ocean, to find certitude and enlightenment +enough for our need. They err who think of God's commandments as +grievous burdens; they are merciful guide-posts. They do not so much +lay weights on our backs as give light to our eyes. + +Still further, the law has its echo 'in thy heart.' It is 'graven on +the fleshly tables of the heart,' and we all respond to it when it +gathers up all duty into 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,' and our +consciences say to it, 'Thou speakest well.' The worst man knows it +better than the best man keeps it. Blurred and illegible often, like +the half-defaced inscriptions disinterred from the rubbish mounds that +once were Nineveh or Babylon, that law remains written on the hearts of +all men. + +A further point to be well laid to heart is the merciful plainness and +emphasis with which the issues that are suspended on obedience or +disobedience are declared. The solemn alternatives are before every man +that hears. Life or death, blessing or cursing, are held out to him, +and it is for him to elect which shall be realised in his case. Of +course, it may be said that the words 'life' and 'death' are here used +in their merely physical sense, and that the context shows (vs. 17, 18) +that life here means only 'length of days, that thou mayest dwell in +the land.' No doubt that is so, though we can scarcely refuse to see +some glimmer of a deeper conception gleaming through the words, 'He is +thy life,' though it is but a glimmer. We have no space here to enter +upon the question of how far it is now true that obedience brings +material blessings. It was true for Israel, as many a sad experience +that it was a bitter as well as an evil thing to forsake Jehovah was to +show in the future. But though the connection between well-doing and +material gain is not so clear now, it is by no means abrogated, either +for nations or for individuals. Moral and religious law has social and +economic consequences, and though the perplexed distribution of earthly +good and ill often bewilders faith and emboldens scepticism, there +still is visible in human affairs a drift towards recompensing in the +world the righteous and the wicked. + +But to us, with our Christian consciousness, 'life' means more than +living, and 'He is our life' in a deeper and more blessed sense than +that our physical existence is sustained by His continual energy. The +love of God and consequent union with Him give us the only true life. +Jesus is 'our life,' and He enters the spirit which opens to Him by +faith, and communicates to it a spark of His own immortal life. He that +is joined to Jesus lives; he that is separated from Him 'is dead while +he liveth.' + +The last point here is the solemn responsibility for choosing one's +part, which the revelation of the law brings with it. 'I have set +before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse, therefore +choose life.' We each determine for ourselves whether the knowledge of +what we ought to be will lead to life or to death, and by choosing +obedience we choose life. Every ray of light from God is capable of +producing a double effect. It either gladdens or pains, it either gives +vision or blindness. The gospel, which is the perfect revelation of God +in Christ, brings every one of us face to face with the great +alternative, and urgently demands from each his personal act of choice +whether he will accept it or neglect or reject it. Not to choose to +accept _is_ to choose to reject. To do nothing is to choose death. +The knowledge of the law was not enough, and neither is an intellectual +reception of the gospel. The one bred Pharisees, who were 'whited +sepulchres'; the other breeds orthodox professors, who have 'a name to +live and are dead.' The clearer our light, the heavier our +responsibility. If we are to live, we have to 'choose life'; and if we +do not, by the vigorous exercise of our will, turn away from earth and +self, and take Jesus for our Saviour and Lord, loving and obeying whom +we love and obey God, we have effectually chosen a worse death than +that of the body, and flung away a better life than that of earth. + + + + +GOD'S TRUE TREASURE IN MAN + +'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His +inheritance.'--DEUT, xxxii.9. + +'Jesus Christ (Who) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from +all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people.'--TITUS ii. +14. + + +I choose these two texts because they together present us with the +other side of the thought to that which I have elsewhere considered, +that man's true treasure is in God. That great axiom of the religious +consciousness, which pervades the whole of Scripture, is rapturously +expressed in many a psalm, and never more assuredly than in that one +which struggles up from the miry clay in which the Psalmist's 'steps +had well-nigh slipped' and soars and sings thus: 'The Lord is the +portion of my inheritance and of my cup; Thou maintainest my lot,' 'The +lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly +heritage.' + +You observe the correspondence between these words and those of my +first text: 'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His +inheritance.' The correspondence in the original is not quite so marked +as it is in our Authorised Version, but still the idea in the two +passages is the same. Now it is plain that persons can possess persons +only by love, sympathy, and communion. From that it follows that the +possession must be mutual; or, in other words, that only he can say +'Thou art mine' who can say 'I am Thine.' And so to possess God, and to +be possessed by God, are but two ways of putting the same fact. 'The +Lord is the portion of His people, and the Lord's portion is His +people,' are only two ways of stating the same truth. + +Then my second text clearly quotes the well-known utterance that lies +at the foundation of the national life of Israel: 'Ye shall be unto Me +a peculiar treasure above all people,' and claims that privilege, like +all Israel's privileges, for the Christian Church. In like manner Peter +(1 Pet. ii. 9) quotes the same words, 'a peculiar people,' as properly +applying to Christians. I need scarcely remind you that 'peculiar' here +is used in its proper original sense of belonging to, or, as the +Revised Version gives it, 'a people for God's own possession' and has +no trace of the modern signification of 'singular.' Similarly we find +Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians giving both sides of the idea of +the inheritance in intentional juxtaposition, when he speaks (i. 14) of +the 'earnest of our inheritance ... unto the redemption of God's own +possession.' In the words before us we have the same idea; and this +text besides tells us how Christ, the Revealer of God, wins men for +Himself, and what manner of men they must be whom He counts as His. + +Therefore there are, as I take it, three things to be spoken about now. +First, God has a special ownership in some people. Second, God owns +these people because He has given Himself to them. Third, God +possesses, and is possessed by, His inheritance, that He may give and +receive services of love. Or, in briefer words, I have to speak about +this wonderful thought of a special divine ownership, what it rests +upon, and what it involves. + +I. God has special ownership in some people. + +'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His +inheritance.' Put side by side with those other words of the Old +Testament: 'All souls are Mine,' or the utterance of the 100th Psalm +rightly translated: 'It is He that hath made us, and to Him we belong.' +There is a right of absolute and utter ownership and possession +inherent in the very relation of Creator and creature; so that the +being made is wholly and altogether at the disposal, and is the +property, of Him that makes him. + +But is that enough for God's heart? Is that worth calling ownership at +all? An arbitrary tyrant in an unconstitutional kingdom, or a slave- +owner, may have the most absolute right of property over his subject or +his slave; may have the right of entire disposal of all his industry, +of the profit of all his labour; may be able to do anything he likes +with him, may have the power of life and death; but such ownership is +only of the husk and case of a man: the man himself may be free, and +may smile at the claim of possession. 'They may '_own_' the body, +and after that have no more than they can do.' That kind of authority +and ownership, absolute and utter, to the point of death, may satisfy a +tyrant or a slave-driver, it does not satisfy the loving heart of God. +It is not real possession at all. In what sense did Nero own Paul when +he shut him up in prison, and cut his head off? Does the slave-owner +own the man whom he whips within an inch of his life, and who dare not +do anything without his permission? Does God, in any sense that +corresponds with the longing of infinite love, own the men that +reluctantly obey Him, and are simply, as it were, tools in His hands? +He covets and longs for a deeper relationship and tenderer ties, and +though all creatures are His, and all men are His servants and His +possession, yet, like certain regiments in our own British army, there +are some who have the right to bear in a special manner on their +uniform and on their banners the emblazonment, 'The King's Own.' 'The +Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.' + +Well, then, the next thought is that the special relationship of +possession is constituted by mutual love. I said at the beginning of +these remarks that as concerns men's relations, the only real +possession is through love, sympathy, and communion, and that that must +necessarily be mutual. We have a perfect right to apply the human +analogy here; in fact, we are bound to do it if we would rightly +understand such words as those of my text; and it just leads us to +this, that the one thing whereby God reckons that He possesses a man at +all is when His love falls upon that man's heart and soaks into it, and +when there springs up in the heart a corresponding emotion and +affection. The men who welcome the divine love that goes through the +whole world, seeking such to worship it, and to trust it, and to become +its own; and who therefore lovingly yield to the loving divine will, +and take it for their law--these are the men whom He regards as His +'portion' and 'the lot of His inheritance.' So that God is mine, and +that 'I am God's,' are two ends of one truth; 'I possess Him,' and 'I +am possessed by Him,' are but the statement of one fact expressed from +two points of view. In the one case you look upon it from above, in the +other case you look upon it from beneath. All the sweet commerce of +mutual surrender and possession which makes the joy of our hearts, in +friendship and in domestic life, we have the right to lift up into this +loftier region, and find in it the last teaching of what makes the +special bond of mutual possession between God and man. + +And deep words of Scripture point in that direction. Those parables of +our Lord's: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, in their +infinite beauty, whilst they contain a great deal besides this, do +contain this in their several ways; the money, the animal, the man +belong to the woman of the house, to the shepherd, to the father. Each +is 'lost' in a different fashion, but the most clear revelation is +given in the last parable of the three, which explains the other two. +The son was 'lost' when he did not love the father; and he was 'found' +by the father when he returned the yearning of the father's heart. + +And so, dear brethren, it ever is; the one thing that knits men to God +is that the silken cord of love let down from Heaven should by our own +hand be wrapped round our own hearts, and then we are united to Him. We +are His and He is ours by the double action of His love manifested by +Him, and His love received by us. + +Now there is nothing in all that of favouritism. The declaration that +there are people who have a special relationship to the divine heart +may be so stated as to have a very ugly look, and it often has been so +stated as to be nothing more than self-complacent Pharisaism, which +values a privilege principally because its possession is an insult to +somebody else that has it not. + +There has been plenty of Christianity of that sort in the world, but +there is nothing of it in the thoughts of these texts rightly looked +at. There is only this: it cannot but be that men who yield to God and +love Him, and try to live near Him and to do righteousness, are His in +a manner that those who steel themselves against Him and turn away from +Him are not. Whilst all creatures have a place in His heart, and are +flooded with His benefits, and get as much of Him as they can hold, the +men who recognise the source of their blessing, and turn to it with +grateful hearts, are nearer Him than those that do not do so. Let us +take care, lest for the sake of seeming to preserve the impartiality of +His love, we have destroyed all in Him that makes His love worth +having. If to Him the good and the bad, the men who fear Him and the +men who fear Him not, are equally satisfactory, and, in the same +manner, the objects of an equal love, then He is not a God that has +pleasure in righteousness; and if He is not a God that 'has pleasure in +righteousness,' He is not a God for us to trust to. We are not giving +countenance to the notion that God has any step-children, any petted +members of His family, when we cleave to this--they that have welcomed +His love into their hearts are nearer to Him than those that have +closed the door against it. + +And there is one more point here about this matter of ownership on +which I dwell for a moment, namely, that this conception of certain men +being in a special sense God's possession and inheritance means also +that He has a special delight in, and lofty appreciation of, them. All +this material creation exists for the sake of growing good men and +women. That is the use of the things that are seen and temporal; they +are like greenhouses built for the great Gardener's use in striking and +furthering the growth of His plants; and when He has got the plants He +has got what He wanted, and you may pull the greenhouse down if you +like. And so God estimates, and teaches us to estimate, the relative +value and greatness of the material and the spiritual in this fashion, +that He says to us in effect: 'All these magnificences and magnitudes +round you are small and vulgar as compared with this--a heart in which +wisdom and divine truth and the love and likeness of God have attained +to some tolerable measure of maturity and of strength.' These are His +'jewels,' as the Roman matron said about her two boys. The great Father +looks upon the men that love Him as His jewels, and, having got the +jewels, the rock in which they were embedded and preserved may be +crushed when you like. 'They shall be Mine,' saith the Lord, 'My +treasures in that day of judgment which I make.' + +And so, my brother, all the insignificance of man, as compared with the +magnitude and duration of the universe, need not stagger our faith that +the divinest thing in the universe is a heart that has learnt to love +God and aspires after Him, and should but increase our wonder and our +gratitude that He has been mindful of man and has visited him, in order +that He might give Himself to men, and so might win men for Himself. + +II. That brings me, and very briefly, to the other points that I desire +to deal with now. The second one, which is suggested to us from my +second text in the Epistle to Titus, is that this possession, by God, +of man, like man's possession of God, comes because God has given +Himself to man. + +The Apostle puts it very strongly in the Epistle to Titus: 'The +glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who +gave Himself for us that He might purify unto Himself _a people for a +possession_.' Israel, according to one metaphor, was God's 'son,' +begotten by that great redeeming act of deliverance from the captivity +of Egypt (Deut. xxxii. 6-19). According to another metaphor, Israel was +God's bride, wooed and won for His own by that same act. Both of these +figures point to the thought that in order to get man for His own He +has to give Himself to man. + +And the very height and sublimity of that truth is found in the +Christian fact which the Apostle points to here. We need not depart +from human analogies here either. Christ gave Himself to us that He +might acquire us for Himself. Absolute possession of others is only +possible at the price of absolute surrender to them. No human heart +ever gave itself away unless it was convinced that the heart to which +it gave itself had given itself to it. + +And on the lower levels of gratitude and obligation, the only thing +that binds a man to another in utter submission is the conviction that +that other has given himself in absolute sacrifice for him. A doctor +goes into the wards of an hospital with his life in his hands, and +because he does, he wins the full confidence and affection of those +whom he treats. You cannot buy a heart with anything less than a heart. +In the barter of the world it is not 'skin for skin,' but it is 'self +for self'; and if you want to own me, you must give yourself altogether +to me. And the measure in which teachers and guides and preachers and +philanthropists of all sorts make conquests of men is the measure in +which they make themselves sacrifices for men. + +Now all that is true, and is lifted to its superlative truth, in the +great central fact of the Christian faith. But there is more than human +analogy here. Christ is not only self-sacrifice in the sense of +surrender, but He is sacrifice in the sense of giving Himself for our +redemption and forgiveness. He has not only given Himself to us, He has +given Himself for us. And there, and on that, is builded, and on that +alone has He a right to build, or have we a right to yield to it, His +claim to absolute authority and utter command over each of us. + +He has died for us, therefore the springs of our life are at His +disposal; and the strongest motives which can sway our lives are set in +motion by His touch. His death, says this text, redeems us from +iniquity and purifies us. That points to its power in delivering us +from the service and practice of sin. He buys us from the despot whose +slaves we were, and makes us His own in the hatred of evil and the +doing of righteousness. Moved by His death, we become capable of +heroisms and martyrdoms of devotion to Him. Brethren, it is only as +that self-sacrificing love touches us, which died for our sins upon the +Cross, that the diabolical chain of selfishness will be broken from our +affections and our wills, and we shall be led into the large place of +glad surrender of ourselves to the sweetness and the gentle authority +of His omnipotent love. + +III. The last thought that I suggest is the issues to which this mutual +possession points. God owns men, and is owned by them, in order that +there may be a giving and receiving of mutual services of love. + +'The Lord's portion is His people.' That in the Old Testament is always +laid as the foundation of certain obligations under which He has come, +and which He will abundantly discharge. What is a great landlord +expected to do to his estate? 'What ought I to have done to my +vineyard?' the divine Proprietor asks through the mouth of His servant +the prophet. He ought to till it, He ought not to starve it, He ought +to fence it, He ought to cast a wall about it, He ought to reap the +fruits. And He does all that for His inheritance. God's honour is +concerned in His portion not being waste. It is not to be a 'garden of +the sluggard,' by which people who pass can see the thorns growing +there. So He will till it, He will plough it, He will pick out the +weeds, and all the disciplines of life will come to us, and the +ploughshare will be driven deep into the heart, that 'the peaceable +fruit of righteousness' may spring up. He will fence His vineyard. +Round about His inheritance His hand will be cast, within His people +His Spirit will dwell. No harm shall come near thee if thy love is +given to Him; safe and untouched by evil thou shalt walk if thou walk +with God. 'He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of Mine eye.' The +soul that trusts Him He takes in charge, and before any evil can fall +to it 'the pillared firmament must be rottenness, and earth be built on +stubble.' 'He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him +against that day.' 'The Lord's portion is His people,' and 'none shall +pluck them out of His hand.' + +And on the other side, we belong to God in Christ. What do we owe Him? +What does the vineyard owe the husbandman? Fruit. We are His, therefore +we are bound to absolute submission. 'Ye are not your own.' Life, +circumstances, occupations, all--we hold them at His will. We have no +more right of property in anything than a slave in the bad old days had +in his cabin and patch of ground. They belonged to the master to whom +he belonged. Let us recognise our stewardship, and be glad to know +ourselves His, and all events and things which we sometimes think ours, +His also. + +We are His, therefore we owe absolute trust. The slave has at least +this blessing in his lot, that he need have no anxieties; nor need we. +We belong to God, and He will take care of us. A rich man's horses and +dogs are well cared for, and our Owner will not leave us unheeded. Our +well-being involves His good name. Leave anxious thought to masterless +hearts which have to front the world with nobody at their backs. If you +are God's you will be looked after. + +We are His, therefore we are bound to live to His praise. That is the +conclusion which one Old Testament passage draws. 'This people have I +formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise' (Isaiah xliii. 21). +The Apostle Peter quotes these words immediately after those from +Exodus, which describe Israel as 'a people for God's own possession,' +when he says 'that ye should show forth the praise of Him who hath +called you.' Let us, then, live to His glory, and remember that the +servants of the King are bound to stand to their colours amid rebels, +and that they who know the sweetness of possessing God, and the +blessedness of yielding to His supreme control, should acknowledge what +they have found of His goodness, and 'tell forth the honour of His +name, and make His praise glorious.' Let not all the magnificent and +wonderful expenditure of divine longing and love be in vain, nor run +off your hearts like water poured upon a rock. Surely the sun's flames +leaping leagues high, they tell us, in tongues of burning gas, must +melt everything that is near them. Shall we keep our hearts sullen and +cold before such a fire of love? Surely that superb and wonderful +manifestation of the love of God in the Cross of Christ should melt +into running rivers of gratitude all the ice of our hearts. + +'He gave Himself for me!' Let us turn to Him and say: 'Lo! I give +myself to Thee. Thou art mine. Make me Thine by the constraint of Thy +love, so utterly, and so saturate my spirit with Thyself, that it shall +not only be Thine, but in a very deep sense it shall be Thee, and that +it may be "no more I that live, but Christ that liveth in me."' + + + + +THE EAGLE AND ITS BROOD + +'As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth +abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.'--DEUT. +xxxii. 11. + + +This is an incomplete sentence in the Authorised Version, but really it +should be rendered as a complete one; the description of the eagle's +action including only the two first clauses, and (the figure being +still retained) the person spoken of in the last clauses being God +Himself. That is to say, it should read thus, 'As an eagle stirreth up +his nest, fluttereth over his young, _He_ spreads abroad His +wings, takes them, bears them on His pinions.' That is far grander, as +well as more compact, than the somewhat dragging comparison which, +according to the Authorised Version, is spread over the whole verse and +tardily explained, in the following, by a clause introduced by an +unwarranted 'So'--'the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no +strange god with him.' + +Now, of course, we all know that the original reference of these words +is to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and their training +in the desert. In the solemn address by Jehovah at the giving of the +law (Exodus xix. 4), the same metaphor is employed, and, no doubt, that +passage was the source of the extended imagery here. There we read, 'Ye +know what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, +and brought you unto Myself.' The meaning of the glowing metaphor, with +its vivid details, is just that Jehovah brought Israel out of its fixed +abode in Goshen, and trained it for mature national life by its varied +desert experiences. As one of the prophets puts the same idea, 'I +taught Ephraim to go,' where the figure of the parent bird training its +callow fledglings for flight is exchanged for that of the nurse +teaching a child to walk. While, then, the text primarily refers to the +experience of the infant nation in the forty years' wanderings, it +carries large truths about us all; and sets forth the true meaning and +importance of life. There seem to me to be three thoughts here, which I +desire to touch on briefly: first, a great thought about God; then an +illuminating thought about the true meaning and aspect of life; and +lastly a calming thought about the variety of the methods by which God +carries out our training. + +I. Here is a great thought about God. + +Now, it may come as something of a shock if I say that the bird that is +selected for the comparison is not really the eagle, but one which, in +our estimation, is of a very much lower order--viz. the carnivorous +vulture. But a poetical emblem is not the less fitting, though, besides +the points of resemblance, the thing which is so used has others less +noble. Our modern repugnance to the vulture as feeding on carcasses was +probably not felt by the singer of this song. What he brings into view +are the characteristics common to the eagle and the vulture; superb +strength in beak and claw, keenness of vision almost incredible, +magnificent sweep of pinion and power of rapid, unwearied flight. And +these characteristics, we may say, have their analogues in the divine +nature, and the emblem not unfitly shadows forth one aspect of the God +of Israel, who is 'fearful in praises,' who is strong to destroy as +well as to save, whose all-seeing eye marks every foul thing, and who +often pounces on it swiftly to rend it to pieces, though the sky seemed +empty a moment before. + +But the action described in the text is not destructive, terrible, or +fierce. The monarch of the sky busies itself with tender cares for its +brood. Then, there is gentleness along with the terribleness. The +strong beak and claw, the gaze that can see so far, and the mighty +spread of wings that can lift it till it is an invisible speck in the +blue vault, go along with the instinct of paternity: and the fledglings +in the nest look up at the fierce beak and bright eyes, and know no +terror. The impression of this blending of power and gentleness is +greatly deepened, as it seems to me, if we notice that it is the male +bird that is spoken about in the text, which should be rendered: 'As +the eagle stirreth up _his_ nest and fluttereth over _his_ young.' + +So we just come to the thought that we must keep the true balance +between these two aspects of that great divine nature--the majesty, the +terror, the awfulness, the soaring elevation, the all-penetrating +vision, the power of the mighty pinion, one stroke of which could crush +a universe into nothing; and, on the other side, the yearning instinct +of Fatherhood, the love and gentleness, and all the tender ministries +for us, His children, to which these lead. Brethren, unless we keep +hold of both of these in due equipoise and inseparably intertwining, we +damage the one which we retain almost as much as the one which we +dismiss. For there is no love like the love that is strong, and can be +fierce, and there is no condescension like the condescension of Him who +is the Highest, in order that He may be, and because He is ready to be, +the lowest. Modern tendencies, legitimately recoiling from the one- +sidedness of a past generation, are now turning away far too much from +the Old Testament conceptions of Jehovah, which are concentrated in +that metaphor of the vulture in the sky. And thereby we destroy the +love, in the name of which we scout the wrath. + + 'Infinite mercy, but, I wis, + As infinite a justice too.' + +'As the vulture stirreth up his nest,'--that is the Old Testament +revelation of the terribleness and gentleness of Jehovah. 'How often +would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth +her chickens under her wing?'--that is the New Testament modification +of the image. But you never could have had the New unless you first had +had the Old. And you are a foolish man if, in the name of the sanctity +of the New, you cast away the teaching of the Old. Keep both the +metaphors, and they will explain and confirm each other. + +II. Here we have an illuminating thought of the meaning of life. + +What is it all for? To teach us to fly, to exercise our half-fledged +wings in short flights, that may prepare us for, and make it possible +to take, longer ones. Every event that befalls us has a meaning beyond +itself; and every task that we have to do reacts upon us, the doers, +and either fits or hinders us for larger work. Life as a whole, and in +its minutest detail, is worthy of God to give, and worthy of us to +possess, only if we recognise the teaching that is put into picturesque +form in this text--that the meaning of all which God does to us is to +train us for something greater yonder. Life as a whole is 'full of +sound and fury, signifying nothing,' unless it is an apprenticeship +training. What are we here for? To make character. That is the aim and +end of all--to make character; to get experience; to learn the use of +our tools. I declare it seems to me that the world had better be wiped +out altogether, incontinently, unless there is a world beyond, where a +man shall use the force which here he made his own. 'Thou hast been +faithful in a few things; behold I will make thee ruler over many +things.' No man gets to the heart of the mystery of life or has in his +hand the key which will enable him to unlock all the doors and +difficulties of human experience, unless he gets to this--that it is +all meant as training. + +If we could only carry that clear conviction with us day by day into +the little things of life, what different things these, which we call +the monotonous trifles of our daily duties, would become! The things +may be small and unimportant, but the way in which we do them is not +unimportant. The same fidelity may be exercised, and must be brought to +bear, in order to do the veriest trifle of our daily lives rightly, as +needs to be invoked, in order to get us safely through the crises and +great times of life. There are no great principles for great duties, +and little ones for little duties. We have to regulate all our conduct +by the same laws. Life is built up of trifles, as mica-flakes, if there +be enough of them, make the Alpine summits towering thousands of feet +into the blue. Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it +is made in the small ones. So, life is meant for discipline, and unless +we use it for that, however much enjoyment we get out of it, we misuse +it. + +III. Lastly, there is here a calming thought as to the variety of God's +methods with us. + +'As the eagle stirreth up his nest.' No doubt the callow brood are much +warmer and more comfortable in the nest than when they are turned out +of it. The Israelites were by no means enamoured with the prospect of +leaving the flesh-pots and the onions and the farmhouses that they had +got for themselves in Goshen, to tramp with their cattle through the +wilderness. They went after Moses with considerable disinclination. + +Here we have, then, as the first thing needed, God's loving compulsion +to effort. To 'stir up the nest' means to make a man uncomfortable +where he is;--sometimes by the prickings of his conscience, which are +often the voices of God's Spirit; sometimes by changes of +circumstances, either for the better or for the worse; and oftentimes +by sorrows. The straw is pulled out of the nest, and it is not so +comfortable to lie in; or a bit of it develops a sharp point that runs +into the half-feathered skin, and makes the fledgling glad to come +forth into the air. We all shrink from change. What should we do if we +had it not? We should stiffen into habits that would dwarf and weaken +us. We all recoil from storms. What should we do if we had them not? +Sea and air would stagnate, and become heavy and putrid and +pestilential, if it were not for the wild west wind and the hurtling +storms. So all our changes, instead of being whimpered over, and all +our sorrows, instead of being taken reluctantly, should be recognised +as being what they are, loving summonses to effort. Then their pressure +would be modified, and their blessing would be secured when their +purpose was served. + +But the training of the father-eagle is not confined to stirring up the +nest. What is to become of the young ones when they get out of it, and +have never been accustomed to bear themselves up in the invisible ether +about them? So 'he fluttereth over his young.' It is a very beautiful +word that is employed here, which 'flutter' scarcely gives us. It is +the same word that is used in the first chapter of Genesis, about the +Spirit of God '_brooding_ on the face of the waters'; and it +suggests how near, how all-protecting with expanded wings, the divine +Father comes to the child whose restfulness He has disturbed. + +And is not that true? Had you ever trouble that you took as from Him, +which did not bring that hovering presence nearer you, until you could +almost feel the motion of the wing, and be brushed by it as it passed +protectingly above your head? Ah, yes! 'Stirring the nest' is meant to +be the precursor of closer approach of the Father to us; and if we take +our changes and our sorrows as loving summonses from Him to effort, be +sure that we shall realise Him as near to us, in a fashion that we +never did before. + +That is not all. There is sustaining power. 'He spreadeth abroad his +wings; he taketh them; beareth them on his wings.' On those broad +pinions we are lifted, and by them we are guarded. It matters little +whether the belief that the parent bird thus carries the young, when +wearied with their short flights, is correct or not. The truth which +underlies the representation is what concerns us. The beautiful +metaphor is a picturesque way of saying, 'In all their afflictions He +was afflicted; and the Angel of His presence saved them.' It is a +picturesque way of saying, 'Thou canst do all things through Christ +which strengtheneth thee.' And we may be very sure that if we let Him +'stir up our nests' and obey His loving summons to effort, He will come +very near to strengthen us for our attempts, and to bear us up when our +own weak wings fail. The Psalmist sang that angels' hands should bear +up God's servant. That is little compared with this promise of being +carried heavenwards on Jehovah's own pinions. A vile piece of Greek +mythology tells how Jove once, in the guise of an eagle, bore away a +boy between his great wings. It is foul where it stands, but it is +blessedly true about Christian experience. If only we lay ourselves on +God's wings--and that not in idleness, but having ourselves tried our +poor little flight--He will see that no harm comes to us. + +During life this training will go on; and after life, what then? Then, +in the deepest sense, the old word will be true, 'Ye know how I bore +you on eagle's wings and brought you _to Myself_'; and the great +promise shall be fulfilled, when the half-fledged young brood are +matured and full grown, 'They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they +shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.' + + + + +THEIR ROCK AND OUR ROCK + +'Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being +Judges.' DEUT. xxxii. 31. + + +Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his +last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to +God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation +had sufficiently proved that God, their God, was 'above all gods.' The +Canaanites and all the enemies whom Israel had fought had been beaten, +and in their awe of this warrior people acknowledged that their idols +had found their lord. The great suit of 'Jehovah _versus_ Idols' +has long since been decided. Every one acknowledges that Christianity +is the only religion possible for twentieth century men. But the words +of the text lend themselves to a wider application, and clothe in a +picturesque garb the universal truth that the experience of godless men +proves the futility of their objects of trust, when compared with that +of him whose refuge is in God. + +I. God is a Rock to them that trust Him. + +We note the singular frequency of that designation in this song, in +which it occurs six times. It is also found often in the Psalms. If +Moses were the singer, we might see in this often-repeated metaphor a +trace of influence of the scenery of the Sinaitic peninsula, which +would he doubly striking to eyes accustomed to the alluvial plains of +Egypt. What are the aspects of the divine nature set forth by this +name? + +(1) Firm foundation: the solid eternity of the rock on which we can +build. + +Petra: faithfulness to promises, unchanging. + +(2) Refuge: 'refuge from the storm'; 'my rock and my fortress and my +high tower.' + +(3) Refreshment: rock from which water gushed out; and (4) Repose: +'shadow of a great rock'; 'shadow from the heat.' + +Trace the image through Scripture, from this song till Christ's parable +of the man who 'built his house on a rock.' + +II. Every man's experience shows him that there is no such refuge +anywhere else. + +We do not assert that every man consciously comes to that conclusion. +All we say is that he would do so if he rightly pondered the facts. The +history of every life is a history of disappointment. Take these +particulars just stated and ask yourselves: What does experience say as +to the possibility of our possessing such blessings apart from God? +There is no need for us to exaggerate, for the naked reality is sad +enough. If God is not our best Good, we have no solid good. Every other +'rock' crumbles into sand. Else why this restless change, why this +disquiet, why the constant repetition, generation after generation, of +the old, old wail, 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity'? Why does every +heart say Amen to the poet and the dramatist singing of 'the fever and +the fret,' the tragic fare of man's life? + +Our appeal is not to men in the flush of excitement, but to them in +their hours of solitary sane reflection. It is from 'Philip drunk to +Philip sober.' We each have material for judging in our own case, and +in the cases of some others. The experiment of living with other +'rocks' than God has been tried for millenniums now. What has been the +issue? You know what Christianity claims that it can do to make a life +stable and safe. Do you know anything else that can? You know what +Christian men will calmly say that they have found. Can you say as +much? Let us hear some dying testimonies. Hearken to Jacob: 'The God +which hath fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which +redeemed me from all evil.' Hearken to Moses: 'The Rock, His work is +perfect, for all His ways are judgment, a God of faithfulness and +without iniquity, just and right is He.' Hearken to Joshua: 'Not one +good thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God +spake.' Hearken to David: 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not +want .... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my +life.' Hearken to Paul: 'The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, and +I was delivered ... the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and +will save me unto His heavenly kingdom.' What man who has chosen to +take refuge or build on men and creatures can look backward and forward +in such fashion? + +III. Every man's own nature tells him that God is his true Rock. + +Again I say that here I do not appeal to the surface of our +consciousness, nor to men who have sophisticated themselves, nor to +people who have sinned themselves, into hardness, but to the voice of +the inner man which speaks in the depths of each man's being. + +There is the cry of Want: the manifest want of the soul for God. + +There is the voice of Reason. + +There is the voice of Conscience. + +IV. Yet many of us will not take God for our Rock. + +Surely it is a most extraordinary thing that men should be 'judges,' +being convinced in their deepest consciousness that God is the only +Foundation and Refuge, and yet that the conviction should have +absolutely no influence on their conduct. The same stark, staring +inconsequence is visible in many other departments of life, but in this +region it works its most tragic results. The message which many of my +hearers need most is--follow out your deepest convictions, and be true +to the inward voice which condenses all your experience into the one +counsel to take God for the 'strength of your hearts and your portion +for ever,' for only in Him will you find what you need for life and +strength and riches. If He is 'our Rock,' then we shall have a firm +foundation, a safe refuge, inexhaustible refreshment and untroubled +rest. Lives founded on aught beside are built on sand and will be full +of tremors and unsettlements, and at last the despairing builder and +his ruined house will be washed away with the dissolving 'sandbank and +shoal of time' on which he built. + + + + +GOD AND HIS SAINTS + +'He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand: and they sat down +at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words.'--DEUT. xxxiii. 3. + + +The great ode of which these words are a part is called 'the blessing +wherewith Moses blessed the children of Israel before his death.' It is +mainly an invocation of blessing from Heaven on the various tribes, but +it begins, as the national existence of Israel began, with the +revelation of God on Sinai, and it lays that as the foundation of +everything. It does not matter, for my purposes, in the smallest +degree, who was the author of this great song. Whoever he was, he has, +by dint of divine inspiration and of his own sympathy with the inmost +spirit of the Old Covenant, anticipated the deepest things of Christian +truth; and these are here in the words of our text. + +I. The first thing that I would point out is the Divine Love which is +the foundation of all. + +'He loved the people.' That is the beginning of everything. The word +that this singer uses is one that only appears in this place, and if we +regard its etymology, there lies in it a very tender and beautiful +expression of the warmth of the divine love, for it is probably +connected with words in an allied language which mean the _bosom_ +and a _tender embrace_, and so the picture that we have is of that +great divine Lover folding 'the people' to His heart, as a mother might +her child, and cherishing them in His bosom. + +Still further, the word is in a form in the Hebrew which implies that +the act spoken about is neither past, present, nor future only, but +continuous and perpetual. Thus it suggests to us the thought of +timeless, eternal love, which has no beginning, and therefore has no +end, which does not grow, and therefore will never decline nor decay, +but which runs on upon one lofty level, with neither ups nor downs, and +with no variation of the impulse which sends it forth; always the same, +and always holding its objects in the fervent embrace of which the text +speaks. + +Further, mark the place in this great song where this thought comes in. +As I said, it is laid as the beginning of everything. 'We love Him +because He first loved us' was the height to which the last of the +Apostles attained in the last of his writings. But this old singer, +with the mists of antiquity around him, who knew nothing about the +Cross, nothing about the historical Christ, who had only that which +modern thinkers tell us is a revelation of a wrathful God, somehow or +other rose to the height of the evangelical conception of God's love as +the foundation of the very existence of a people who are His. Like an +orchid growing on a block of dry wood and putting forth a gorgeous +bloom, this singer, with so much less to feed his faith than we have, +has yet borne this fair flower of deep and devout insight into the +secret of things and the heart of God. 'He loved the people'-- +therefore He formed them for Himself; therefore He brought them out of +bondage; therefore He came down in flashing fire on Sinai and made +known His will, which to know and do is life. All begins from the +tender, timeless love of God. + +And if the question is asked, Why does God thus love? the only answer +is, Because he is God. 'Not for your sakes, O house of Israel ... but +for Mine own name's sake.' The love of God is self-originated. In it, +as in all His acts, He is His own motive, as His name, 'I am that I +am,' proclaims. It is inseparable from His being, and flows forth +before, and independent of, anything in the creature which could draw +it out. Men's love is attracted by their perception or their +imagination of something loveable in its objects. It is like a well, +where there has to be much work of the pump-handle before the gush +comes. God's love is like an artesian well, or a fountain springing up +from unknown depths in obedience to its own impulse. All that we can +say is, 'Thou art God. It is Thy nature and property to be merciful.' + +'God loved the people.' The bed-rock is the spontaneous, unalterable, +inexhaustible, ever-active, fervent love of God, like that with which a +mother clasps her child to her maternal breast. The fair flower of this +great thought was a product of Judaism. Let no man say that the God of +Love is unknown to the Old Testament. + +II. Notice how, with this for a basis, we have next the guardian care +extended to all those that answer love by love. + +The singer goes on to say, mixing up his pronouns, in the fashion of +Hebrew poetry, somewhat arbitrarily, 'all _His_ saints are in +_Thy_ hand.' Now, what is a 'saint'? A man who answers God's love +by his love. The notion of a saint has been marred and mutilated by the +Church and the world. It has been taken as a special designation of +certain selected individuals, mostly of the ascetic and monastic type, +whereas it belongs to every one of God's people. It has been taken by +the world to mean sanctimoniousness and not sanctity, and is a term of +contempt rather than of admiration on their lips. And even those of us, +who have got beyond thinking that it is a title of honour belonging +only to the aristocracy of Christ's Kingdom, are too apt to mistake +what it really does mean. It may be useful to say a word about the +Scriptural use and true meaning of that much-abused term. The root idea +of sanctity or holiness is not moral character, goodness of disposition +and of action, but it is separation from the world and consecration to +God. As surely as a magnet applied to a heap of miscellaneous filings +will pick out every little bit of iron there, so surely will that love +which He bears to the people, when it is responded to, draw to itself, +and therefore draw out of the heap, the men that feel its impulse and +its preciousness. And so 'saint' means, secondly, righteous and pure, +but it means, first, knit to God, separated from evil, and separated by +the power of His received love. + +Now, brethren, here is a question for each of us: Do I yield to that +timeless, tender clasp of the divine Father and Mother in one? Do I +answer it by my love? If I do, then I am a 'saint,' because I belong to +Him, and He belongs to me, and in that commerce I have broken with the +world. If we are true to ourselves, and true to our Lord, and true to +the relation between us, the purity of character, which is popularly +supposed to be the meaning of _holiness_, will come. Not without +effort, not without set-backs, not without slow advance, but it will +come; for he that is consecrated to the Lord is 'separated' from +iniquity. Such is the meaning of 'saint.' + +'All His saints are in Thy hand.' The first metaphor of our text spoke +of God's bosom, to which He drew the people and folded them there. This +one speaks of His 'hand.' They lie in it. That means two things. It +means absolute security, for will He not close His fingers over His +palm to keep the soul that has laid itself there? And 'none shall pluck +them out of My Father's hand.' No one but yourself can do that. And you +can do it, if you cease to respond to His love, and so cease to be a +saint. Then you will fall out of His hand, and how far you will fall +God only knows. + +Being in God's hand means also submission. Loyola said to his black +army, 'Be like a stick in a man's hand.' That meant utter submission +and abnegation of self, the willingness to be put anywhere, and used +anyhow, and done anything with. And if I by my reception of, and +response to, that timeless love, am a saint belonging to God, then not +only shall I be secure, but I must be submissive. 'All His saints are +in Thy hand.' Do not try to get out of it; be content to let it guide +you as the steersman's hand turns the spokes of the wheel and directs +the ship. + +Now, there is a last thought here. I have spoken of the foundation of +all as being divine love, of the security and guardian care of the +saints, and there follows one thought more:-- + +III. The docile obedience of those that are thus guarded. + +As the words stand in our Bible, they are as follow:--'They sat down at +Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words.' These two clauses make +up one picture, and one easily understands what it is. It represents a +group of docile scholars, sitting at the Master's feet. He is teaching +them, and they listen open-mouthed and open-eared to what he says, and +will take his words into their lives, like Mary sitting at Christ's +feet, whilst Martha was bustling about His meal. But, beautiful as that +picture is, there has been suggested a little variation in the words +which gives another one that strikes me as being even more beautiful. +There are some difficulties of language with which I need not trouble +you. But the general result is this, that perhaps instead of 'sitting +down at Thy feet' we should read 'followed at Thy feet.' That suggests +the familiar metaphor of a guide and those led by him who, without him, +know not their road. As a dog follows his master, as the sheep their +shepherd, so, this singer felt, will saints follow the God whom they +love. Religion is imitation of God. That was a deep thought for such a +stage of revelation, and it in part anticipates Christ's tender words: +'He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His +voice.' They follow at His feet. That is the blessedness and the power +of Christian morality, that it is keeping close at Christ's heels, and +that instead of its being said to us, 'Go,' He says, 'Come,' and +instead of our being bid to hew out for ourselves a path of duty, He +says to us, 'He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall +have the light of life.' They follow at His feet, as the dog at his +master's, as the sheep at their shepherd's. + +They 'receive His words.' Yes, if you will keep close to Him, He will +turn round and speak to you. If you are near enough to Him to catch His +whisper He will not leave you without guidance. That is one side of the +thought, that following we receive what He says, whereas the people +that are away far behind Him scarcely know what His will is, and never +can catch the low whisper which will come to us by providences, by +movements in our own spirits, through the exercise of our own faculties +of judgment and common-sense, if only we will keep near to Him. 'Be ye +not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose +mouths must be held in with bit and with bridle, else they will not +come near to thee,' but walk close behind Him, and then the promise +will be fulfilled: 'I will guide thee with Mine eye.' A glance tells +two people who are in sympathy what each wishes, and Jesus Christ will +speak to us, if we keep close at His heels. + +They that follow Him will 'receive His words' in another sense. They +will take them in, and His words will not be wasted. And they will +receive them in yet another sense. They will carry them out and do +them, and His words will not be in vain. + +So, dear brethren, the peace, the strength, the blessedness, the +goodness, of our lives flow from these three stages, which this singer +so long ago had found to be the essence of everything, recognition of +the timeless tenderness of God, the yielding to and answering that +love, so that it separates us for Himself, the calm security and happy +submission which follow thereon, the imitation of Him in daily life, +and the walking in His steps, which is rewarded and made more perfect +by hearing more distinctly the whisper of His loving, commanding voice. + + + + +ISRAEL THE BELOVED + +'The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord +shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His +shoulders.'--DEUT. xxxiii. 12. + + +Benjamin was his father's favourite child, and the imagery of this +promise is throughout drawn from the relations between such a child and +its father. So far as the future history of the tribes is shadowed in +these 'blessings' of this great ode, the reference of the text may be +to the tribe of Benjamin, as specially distinguished by Saul having +been a member of it, and by the Temple having been built on its soil. +But we find that each of the promises of the text is repeated +elsewhere, with distinct reference to the whole nation. For example, +the first one, of safe dwelling, reappears in verse 28 in reference to +Israel; the second one, of God's protecting covering, is extended to +the nation in many places; and the third, of dwelling between His +shoulders, is in substance found again in chap. i. 31, 'the Lord thy +God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son.' So that we may give the +text a wider extension, and take it as setting forth under a lovely +metaphor, and with a restricted reference, what is true of all God's +children everywhere and always. + +I. Who are the 'beloved of the Lord'? + +The first answer to that question must be--all men. But these great +blessings, so beautifully shadowed in this text, do not belong to all +men; nor does the designation, 'the beloved of the Lord,' belong to all +men, but to those who have entered into a special relation to Him. In +these words of the Hebrew singer there sound the first faint tones of a +music that was to swell into clear notes, when Jesus said: 'If a man +love Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will +come unto him, and make Our abode with him.' They who are knit by faith +and love to God's only-begotten and beloved Son, by that union receive +'power to become the sons of God,' and share in the love which is ever +pouring out from the Father's heart on 'the Son of His love.' + +II. What are their blessed privileges? + +The three clauses of the text express substantially the same idea, but +with a striking variety of metaphors. + +1. They have a sure dwelling-place. + +There is a very slight change of rendering of the first clause, which +greatly increases its 'force, and preserves the figure that is obscured +by the usual translation. We should read 'shall dwell safely +_on_,' rather than '_by_, Him.' And the effect of that small +change in the preposition is to bring out the thought that God is +regarded as the foundation on which His beloved build their house of +life, and dwell in security and calm. If we are sons through the Son, +we shall build our houses or pitch our tents on that firm ground, and, +being founded on the Rock of ages, they will not fall when all created +foundations reel to the overthrow of whatever is built on _them_. +It is not companionship only, blessed as that is, that is promised +here. We have a larger privilege than dwelling _by_ Him, for if we +love His Son, we build _on_ God, and 'God dwelleth in us and we in +Him.' + +What spiritual reality underlies the metaphor of dwelling or building +on God? The fact of habitual communion. + +Note the blessed results of such grounding of our lives on God through +such habitual communion. We shall 'dwell safely.' We may think of that +as being objective safety--that is, freedom from peril, or as being +subjective--that is, freedom from care or fear, or as meaning +'trustfully,' confidently, as the expression is rendered in Psalm xvi. +9 (margin), which is for us the ground of both these. He who dwells in +God trustfully dwells both safely and securely, and none else is free +either from danger or from dread. + +2. They have a sure shelter. + +God is for His beloved not only the foundation on which they dwell in +safety, but their perpetual covering. They dwell safely because He is +so. There are many tender shapes in which this great promise is +presented to our faith. Sometimes God is thought of as covering the +weak fugitive, as the arching sides of His cave sheltered David from +Saul. Sometimes He is represented as covering His beloved, who cower +under His wings, 'as the hen gathereth her chickens' when hawks are in +the sky. Sometimes He appears as covering them from tempest, 'when the +blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall,' and 'the +shadow of a great rock' shields from its fury. Sometimes He is pictured +as stretching out protection over His beloved's heads, as the Pillar of +cloud lay, long-drawn-out, over the Tabernacle when at rest, and 'on +all the Glory was a defence.' But under whatever emblem the general +idea of a covering shelter was conceived, there was always a +correlative duty on our side. For the root-meaning of one of the Old +Testament words for 'faith' is 'fleeing to a refuge,' and we shall not +be safe in God unless by faith we flee for refuge to Him in Christ. + +3. They have a Father who bears them on His shoulders. + +The image is the same as in chap. i. already referred to. It recurs +also in Isaiah (xlvi. 3, 4), 'Even to hoar hairs will I carry you, and +I have made and I will bear, yea, I will carry, and will deliver'; and +in Hosea (xi. 3), 'I taught Ephraim to go; I took them on My arms.' + +The image beautifully suggests the thought of the favourite child +riding high and happy on the strong shoulder, which lifts it above +rough places and miry ways. The prose reality is: 'My grace is +sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' + +The Cross carries those who carry it. They who carry God in their +hearts are carried by God through all the long pilgrimage of life. +Because they are thus upheld by a strength not their own, 'they shall +run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint,' and though +marches be long and limbs strained, they shall 'go from strength to +strength till every one of them appears before God in Zion.' + + + +'AT THE BUSH' + +'.. The goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush.'-DEUT. xxxiii. 16. + + +I Think this is the only reference in the Old Testament to that great +vision which underlay Moses' call and Israel's deliverance. It occurs +in what is called 'the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, +blessed the children of Israel before his death,' although modern +opinion tends to decide that this hymn is indeed much more recent than +the days of Moses. There seems a peculiar appropriateness in this +reference being put into the mouth of the ancient Lawgiver, for to him +even Sinai, with all its glories, cannot have been so impressive and so +formative of his character as was the vision granted to him when +solitary in the wilderness. It is to be noticed that the characteristic +by which God is designated here never occurs elsewhere than in this one +place. It is intended to intensify the conception of the greatness, and +preciousness, and all-sufficiency of that 'goodwill.' If it is that 'of +Him that dwelt in the bush,' it is sure to be all that a man can need. +I need not remind you that the words occur in the blessing pronounced +on 'Joseph'--that is, the two tribes which represented Joseph--in which +all the greatest material gifts that could be desired by a pastoral +people are first called down upon them, and then the ground of all +these is laid in 'the goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush.' 'The +blessing--let it come on the head of Joseph.' + +So then here, first, is a great thought as to what for us all is the +blessing of blessings--God's 'goodwill.' 'Goodwill'-the word, perhaps, +might bear a little stronger rendering. 'Goodwill' is somewhat tepid. A +man may have a good enough will, and yet no very strong emotion of +favour or delight, and may do nothing to carry his goodwill into +action. But the word that is employed here, and is a common enough one +in Scripture, always carries with it a certain intensity and warmth of +feeling. It is more than 'goodwill'; it is more than 'favour'; perhaps +'delight' would be nearer the meaning. It implies, too, not only the +inward sentiment of complacency, but also the active purpose of action +in conformity with it, on God's part. Now it needs few words to show +that these two things, which are inseparable, do make the blessing of +blessings for every one of us--the delight, the complacency, of God in +us, and the active purpose of good in God for us. These are the things +that will make a man happy wherever he is. + +If I might dwell for a moment upon other scriptural passages, I would +just recall to you, as bringing up very strongly and beautifully the +all-sufficiency and the blessed effects of having this delight and +loving purpose directed towards us like a sunbeam, the various great +things that a chorus of psalmists say that it will do for a man. Here +is one of their triumphant utterances: 'Thou wilt bless the righteous; +with favour wilt Thou compass him as with a shield.' That crystal +battlement, if I may so vary the figure, is round a man, keeping far +away from him all manner of real evil, and filling his quiet heart as +he stands erect behind the rampart, with the sense of absolute +security. That is one of the blessings that God's favour or goodwill +will secure for us. Again, we read: 'By Thy favour Thou hast made my +mountain to stand strong.' He that knows himself to be the object of +the divine delight, and who by faith knows himself to be the object of +the divine activity in protection, stands firm, and his purposes will +be carried through, because they will be purposes in accordance with +the divine mind, and nothing has power to shake him. So he that grasps +the hand of God can say, not because of his grasp, but because of the +Hand that he holds, 'The Lord is at my right hand; I shall not be +greatly moved. By Thy favour Thou hast made our mountain to stand +strong.' And again, in another analogous but yet diversified +representation, we read: 'In Thee shall we rejoice all the day, and in +Thy favour shall our horn be exalted.' That is the emblem, not only of +victory, but of joyful confidence, and so he who knows himself to have +God for his friend and his helper, can go through the world keeping a +sunny face, whatever the clouds may be, erect and secure, light of +heart and buoyant, holding up his chin above the stormiest waters, and +breasting all difficulties and dangers with a confidence far away from +presumption, because it is the consequence of the realisation of God's +presence. So the goodwill of God is the chiefest good. + +Now, if we turn to the remarkable designation of the divine nature +which is here, consider what rivers of strength and of blessedness flow +out of the thought that for each of us 'the goodwill of Him that dwelt +in the bush' may be our possession. + +What does that pregnant designation of God say? That was a strange +shrine for God, that poor, ragged, dry desert bush, with apparently no +sap in its gray stem, prickly with thorns, with 'no beauty that we +should desire it,' fragile and insignificant, yet it was 'God's house.' +Not in the cedars of Lebanon, not in the great monarchs of the forest, +but in the forlorn child of the desert did He abide. 'The goodwill of +Him that dwelt in the bush' may dwell in you and me. Never mind how +small, never mind how sapless, never mind how lightly esteemed among +men, never mind though we make a very poor show by the side of the +'oaks of Bashan' or the 'cedars of Lebanon.' It is all right; the Fire +does not dwell in them. 'Unto this man will I look, and with him will I +dwell, who is of a humble and a contrite heart, and who trembleth at My +word.' Let no sense of poverty, weakness, unworthiness, ever draw the +faintest film of fear across our confidence, for even with us He will +sojourn. For it is 'the goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush' that we +evoke for ours. + +Again, what more does that name say? He 'that dwelt in the bush' filled +it with fire, and it 'burned and was not consumed.' Now there is good +ground to object to the ordinary interpretation, as if the burning of +the bush which yet remains unconsumed was meant to symbolise Israel, +or, in the New Testament application, the Church which, notwithstanding +all persecution, still remains undestroyed. Our brethren of the +Presbyterian churches have taken the Latin form of the words in the +context for their motto--_Nec Tamen Consumebatur_. But I venture +to think that that is a mistake; and that what is meant by the symbol +is just what is expressed by the verbal revelation which accompanied +it, and that was this: 'I AM THAT I AM.' The fire that did not burn out +is the emblem of the divine nature which does not tend to death because +it lives, nor to exhaustion because it energises, nor to emptiness +because it bestows, but after all times is the same; lives by its own +energy and is independent. 'I am that I have become,'--that is what men +have to say. 'I am that I once was not, and again once shall not be,' +is what men have to say. 'I am that I am' is God's name. And this +eternal, ever-living, self-sufficing, absolute, independent, unwearied, +inexhaustible God is the God whose favour is as inexhaustible as +Himself, and eternal as His own being. 'Therefore the sons of men shall +put their trust beneath the shadow of Thy wings,' and, if they have +'the goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush,' will be able to say, +'Because Thou livest we shall live also.' + +What more does the name say? He 'that dwelt in the bush' dwelt there in +order to deliver; and, dwelling there, declared 'I have seen the +affliction of My people, and am come down to deliver them.' So, then, +if the goodwill of that eternal, delivering God is with us, we, too, +may feel that our trivial troubles and our heavy burdens, all the needs +of our prisoned wills and captive souls, are known to Him, and that we +shall have deliverance from them by Him. Brethren, in that name, with +its historical associations, with its deep revelations of the divine +nature, with its large promises of the divine sympathy and help, there +lie surely abundant strengths and consolations for us all. The +goodwill, the delight, of God, and the active help of God, may be ours, +and if these be ours we shall be blessed and strong. + +Do not let us forget the place in this blessing on the head of Joseph +which my text holds. It is preceded by an invoking of the precious +things of Heaven, and 'the precious fruits brought forth by the sun... +of the chief things of the ancient mountains, and the precious things +of the lasting hills, and the precious things of the earth and the +fulness thereof.' They are all heaped together in one great mass for +the beloved Joseph. And then, like the golden spire that tops some of +those campaniles in Italian cities, and completes their beauty, above +them all there is set, as the shining apex of all, 'the goodwill of Him +that dwelt in the bush.' That is more precious than all other precious +things; set last because it is to be sought first; set last as in +building some great structure the top stone is put on last of all; set +last because it gathers all others into itself, secures that all others +shall be ours in the measure in which we need them, and arms us against +all possibilities of evil. So the blessing of blessings is the +'goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush.' + +In my text this is an invocation only; but we can go further than that. +You and I can make sure that we have it, if we will. How to secure it? +One of the texts which I have already quoted helps us a little way +along t he road in answer to that question, for it says, 'Thou, Lord, +wilt bless the righteous. With favour wilt thou compass him as with a +shield.' But it is of little use to tell me that if I am 'righteous' +God will 'bless me,' and 'compass me with favour.' If you will tell me +how to become righteous, you will do me more good. And we have been +told how to be righteous--'If a man keep My commandments My Father will +love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.' If we +knit ourselves to Jesus Christ, and we can all do that if we like, by +faith that trusts Him, and by love, the child of faith, that obeys Him, +and grows daily more like Him--then, without a doubt, that delight of +God in us, and that active purpose of good in God's mind towards us, +will assuredly be ours; and on no other terms. + +So, dear brethren, the upshot of my homily is just this--Men may +strive and scheme, and wear their finger-nails down to the quick, to +get some lesser good, and fail after all. The greatest good is +certainly ours by that easy road which, however hard it may be +otherwise, is made easy because it is so certain to bring us to what we +want. Holiness is the condition of God's delight in us, and a genuine +faith in Christ, and the love which faith evokes, are the conditions. +So it is a very simple matter You never can be sure of getting the +lower good You can be quite sure of getting the highest. You never can +be certain that the precious things of the earth and the fulness +thereof will be yours, or that if they were, they would be so very +precious; but you can be quite sure that the 'goodwill of Him that +dwelt in the bush' may lie like light upon your hearts, and be strength +to your limbs. + +And so I commend to you the words of the Apostle, 'Wherefore we labour +that, whether present or absent, we may be well-pleasing to Him.' To +minister to God's delight is the highest glory of man. To have the +favour of Him that dwelt in the bush resting upon us is the highest +blessing for man. He will say 'Well done! good and faithful servant.' +'The Lord taketh pleasure'--wonderful as it sounds--'in them that fear +Him, in them that hope in His mercy,' and that, hoping in His mercy, +live as He would have them live. + + + + +SHOD FOR THE ROAD + +'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy +strength be.' DEUT. xxxiii. 25. + + +There is a general correspondence between those blessings wherewith +Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before his death, and the +circumstances and territory of each tribe in the promised land. The +portion of Asher, in whose blessing the words of our text occurs, was +partly the rocky northern coast and partly the fertile lands stretching +to the base of the Lebanon. In the inland part of their territory they +cultivated large olive groves, the produce of which was trodden out in +great rock-hewn cisterns. So the clause before my text is a benediction +upon that industry-'let him dip his foot in oil.' And then the metaphor +naturally suggested by the mention of the foot is carried on into the +next words, 'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass,' the tribe being +located upon rocky sea-coast, having rough roads to travel, and so +needing to be well shod. The substance, then, of that promise seems to +be--strength adequate to, and unworn by, exercise; while the second +clause, though not altogether plain, seems to put a somewhat similar +idea in unmetaphorical shape. 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be,' +probably means the promise of power that grows with growing years. + +So, then, we have first that thought that God gives us an equipment of +strength proportioned to our work,--shoes fit for our road. God does +not turn people out to scramble over rough mountains with thin-soled +boots on; that is the plain English of the words. When an Alpine +climber is preparing to go away into Switzerland for rock work, the +first thing he does is to get a pair of strong shoes, with plenty of +iron nails in the soles of them. So Asher had to be shod for his rough +roads, and so each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony +paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and will not send us out on +any journey for which He does not equip us well. + +There are no difficulties to be found in any path of duty, for which he +that is called to tread it is not prepared by Him that sent him. +Whatsoever may be the road, our equipment is calculated for it, and is +given to us from Him that has appointed it. + +Is there not a suggestion here, too, as to the sort of travelling we +may expect to have? An old saying tells us that we do not go to heaven +in silver slippers, and the reason is because the road is rough. The +'primrose way' leads somewhere else, and it may be walked on +'delicately.' But if we need shoes of iron and brass, we may pretty +well guess the kind of road we have before us. If a man is equipped +with such coverings on his feet, depend upon it that there will be use +for them before he gets to the end of his day's journey. The thickest +sole will make the easiest travelling over rocky roads. So be quite +sure of this, that if God gives to us certain endowments and equipments +which are only calculated for very toilsome paths, the roughness of the +road will match the stoutness of the shoes. + +And see what He does give. See the provision which is made for patience +and strength, for endurance and courage, in all the messages of His +mercy, in all the words of His love, in all the powers of His Gospel, +and then say whether that looks as if we should have an easy life of it +on our way home. Those two ships that went away a while ago upon the +brave, and, as some people thought, desperate task of finding the North +Pole--any one that looked upon them as they lay in Portsmouth Roads, +might know that it was no holiday cruise they were meant for. The +thickness of the sides, the strength of the cordage, the massiveness of +the equipment, did not look like pleasure-sailing. + +And so, dear brethren, if we think of all that is given to us in God's +Gospel in the way of stimulus and encouragement, and exhortation, and +actual communication of powers, we may calculate, from the abundance of +the resources, how great will be the strain upon us before we come to +the end, and our 'feet stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.' Go into +some of the great fortresses in continental countries, and you will +find the store-rooms full of ammunition and provisions; bread enough +and biscuits enough, as it seems, for half the country, laid up there, +and a deep well somewhere or other in the courtyard. What does that +mean? It means fighting, that is what it means. So if we are brought +into this strong pavilion, so well provisioned, so massively fortified +and defended, that means that we shall need all the strength that is to +be found in those thick walls, and all the sustenance that is to be +found in those gorged magazines, and all the refreshment that is to be +drawn from that free, and full, and inexhaustible fountain, before the +battle is over and the victory won. Depend upon it, the promise 'Thy +shoes shall be iron and brass.' means, 'Thy road shall be rocky and +flinty'; and so it is. + +And yet, thank God! whilst it is true that it is very hard and very +difficult for many of us, and hard and difficult--even if without the +'very'--for us all, it is also true that we have the adequate provision +sufficient for all our necessities--and far more than sufficient! It is +a poor compliment to the strength that He gives to us to say that it is +enough to carry us through. God does not deal out His gifts to people +with such an economical correspondence to necessities as that. There is +always a wide margin. More than we can ask, more than we can think, +more than we can need is given us. + +If He were to deal with us as men often deal with one another, asking +us, 'Well, how much do you want? cannot you do with a little less? +there is the exact quantity that you need for your support'--if you got +your bread by weight and your water by measure, it would be a very poor +affair. See how He actually does--He says, 'Child, there is Mine own +strength for you'; and we think that we honour Him when we say, 'God +has given us enough for our necessities!' Rather the old word is always +true: 'So they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the +fragments that remained seven baskets-full,' and after they were +satisfied and replete with the provision, there was more at the end +than when they began. + +That suggests another possible thought to be drawn from this promise, +namely, that it assures not only of strength adequate to the +difficulties and perils of the journey, but also of a strength which is +not worn out by use. + +The 'portion' of Asher was the rocky sea-coast. The sharp, jagged rocks +would cut to pieces anything made of leather long before the day's +march was over; but the travellers have their feet shod with metal, and +the rocks which they have to stumble over will only strike fire from +their shoes. They need not step timidly for fear of wearing them out; +but, wherever they have to march, may go with full confidence that +their shoeing will not fail them. A wise general looks after that part +of his soldiers' outfit with special care, knowing that if _it_ +gives out, all the rest is of no use. So our Captain provides us with +an inexhaustible strength, to which we may fully trust. We shall not +exhaust it by any demands that we can make upon it. We shall only +brighten it up, like the nails in a well-used shoe, the heads of which +are polished by stumbling and scrambling over rocky roads. + +So we may be bold in the march, and draw upon our stock of strength to +the utmost. There is no fear that it will fail us. We may put all our +force into our work, we shall not weaken the power which 'by reason of +use is exercised,' not exhausted. For the grace which Christ gives us +to serve Him, being divine, is subject to no weariness, and neither +faints nor fails. The bush that burned unconsumed is a type of that +Infinite Being who works unexhausted, and lives undying, after all +expenditure is rich, after all pouring forth is full. And of His +strength we partake. + +Whensoever a man puts forth an effort of any kind whatever--when I +speak, when I lift my hand, when I run, when I think-there is waste of +muscular tissue. Some of my strength goes in the act, and thus every +effort means expenditure and diminution of force. Hence weariness that +needs sleep, waste that needs food, languor that needs rest. We belong +to an order of being in which work is death, in regard to our physical +nature; but our spirits may lay hold of God, and enter into an order of +things in which work is not death, nor effort exhaustion, nor is there +loss of power in the expenditure of power. + +That sounds strange, and yet it is not strange. Think of that electric +light which is made by directing a strong stream upon two small pieces +of carbon. As the electricity strikes upon these and turns their +blackness into a fiery blaze, it eats away their substance while it +changes them into light. But there is an arrangement in the lamp by +which a fresh surface is continually being brought into the path of the +beam, and so the light continues without wavering and blazes on. The +carbon is our human nature, black and dull in itself; the electric beam +is the swift energy of God, which makes us 'light in the Lord.' For the +one, decay is the end of effort; for the other, there is none. 'Though +our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.' +Though we belong to the perishing order of nature by our bodily frame, +we belong to the undecaying realm of grace by the spirit that lays hold +upon God. And if our work weary us, as it must do so long as we +continue here, yet in the deepest sanctuary of our being, our strength +is greatened by exercise. 'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass.' 'Thy +raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these +forty years.' 'Stand, therefore, having your feet shod with the +preparedness of the Gospel of peace.' + +But this is not all. There is an advance even upon these great promises +in the closing words. That second clause of our text says more than the +first one. 'Thy shoes shall be iron and brass,' that promises us powers +and provision adapted to, and unexhausted by, the weary pilgrimage and +rough road of life. But 'as thy days, so shall thy strength be,' says +even more than that. The meaning of the word rendered 'strength' in our +version is very doubtful, and most modern translators are inclined to +render it 'rest.' But if we adhere to the translation of our version, +we get a forcible and relevant promise, which fits on well to the +previous clause, understood as it has been in my previous remarks. The +usual understanding of the words is 'strength proportioned to thy day,' +an idea which we have found already suggested by the previous clause. +But that explanation rests on, or at any rate derives support from, the +common misquotation of the words. They are not, as we generally hear +them quoted, 'As thy day, so shall thy strength be,'--but 'day' is in +the plural, and that makes a great difference. 'As thy days, so shall +thy strength be,' that is to say: the two sums--of 'thy days' and of +'thy strength'--keep growing side by side, the one as fast as the other +and no faster. The days increase. Well, what then? The strength +increases too. As I said, we are allied to two worlds. According to the +law of one of them, the outer world of physical life, we soon reach the +summit of human strength. For a little while it is true, even in the +life of nature, that our power grows with our days. But we soon reach +the watershed, and then the opposite comes to be true. Down, steadily +down, we go. With diminishing power, with diminishing vitality, with a +dimmer eye, with an obtuser ear, with a slower-beating heart, with a +feebler frame, we march on and on to our grave. 'As thy days, so shall +thy weakness be,' is the law for all of us mature men and women in +regard to our outward life. + +But, dear brethren, we may be emancipated from that dreary law in +regard to the true life of our spirits, and instead of growing weaker +as we grow older, we may and we should grow stronger. We may be and we +should be moving on a course that has no limit to its advance. We may +be travelling on a shining path through the heavens, that has no noon- +tide height from which it must slowly and sadly decline, but tends +steadily and for ever upwards, nearer and nearer to the very fountain +itself of heavenly radiance. 'The path of the just is as the shining +light, which shineth more and more till the noon-tide of the day.' But +the reality surpasses even that grand thought, for it discloses to us +an endless approximation to an infinite beauty, and an ever-growing +possession of never exhausted fulness, as the law for the progress of +all Christ's servants. The life of each of us may and should be +continual accession and increase of power through all the days here, +through all the ages beyond. Why? Because 'the life which I live, I +live by the faith of the Son of God.' Christ liveth in me. It is not my +strength that grows, so much as God's strength in me which is given +more abundantly as the days roll. It is so given on one condition. If +my faith has laid hold of the infinite, the exhaustless, the immortal +energy of God, unless there is something fearfully wrong about me, I +shall be becoming purer, nobler, wiser, more observant of His will, +gentler, liker Christ, every way fitter for His service, and for larger +service, as the days increase. + +Those of us who have reached middle life, or perhaps gone a little over +the watershed, ought to have this experience as our own in a very +distinct degree. The years that are past ought to have drawn us +somewhat away from our hot pursuing after earthly and perishable +things. They should have added something to the clearness and +completeness of our perception of the deep simplicity of God's gospel. +They should have tightened our hold and increased our possession of +Christ, and unfolded more and more of His all-sufficiency. They should +have enriched us with memories of God's loving care, and lighted all +the sky behind with a glow which is reflected on the path before us, +and kindles calm confidence in His unfailing goodness. They should have +given us power and skill for the conflicts that yet remain, as the Red +Indians believe that the strength of every defeated and scalped enemy +passes into his conqueror's arm. They should have given force to our +better nature, and weakening, progressive weakening, to our worse. They +should have rooted us more firmly and abidingly in Him from whom all +our power comes, and so have given us more and fuller supplies of His +exhaustless and ever-flowing might. + +So it may be with us if we abide in Him, without whom we are nothing, +but partaking of whose strength 'the weakest shall be as David, and +David as an angel of God.' + +If for us, drawing nearer to the end is drawing nearer to the light, +our faces will be brightened more and more with that light which we +approach, and our path will be 'as the shining light which shines more +and more unto the noon-tide of the day,' because we are closer to the +very fountain of heavenly radiance, and growingly bathed and flooded +with the outgoings of His glory. 'As thy days, so shall thy strength +be.' + +The promise ought to be true for us all. It _is_ true for all who +use the things that are freely given to them of God. And whilst thus it +is the law for the devout life here, its most glorious fulfilment +remains for the life beyond. There each new moment shall bring new +strength, and growing millenniums but add fresh vigour to our immortal +life. Here the unresting beat of the waves of the sea of time gnaws +away the bank and shoal whereon we stand, but there each roll of the +great ocean of eternity shall but spread new treasures at our feet and +add new acres to our immortal heritage. 'The oldest angels,' says +Swedenborg, 'look the youngest.' When life is immortal, the longer it +lasts the stronger it becomes, and so the spirits that have stood for +countless days before His throne, when they appear to human eyes, +appear as--'young men clothed in long white garments,'--full of unaging +youth and energy that cannot wane. So, whilst in the flesh we must obey +the law of decay, the spirit may be subject to this better law of life, +and 'while the outward man perisheth, the inward man be renewed day by +day.' 'Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men +shall utterly fall; but they that wait on the Lord shall renew their +strength.' + + + + +A DEATH IN THE DESERT + +'So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, +according to the word of the Lord. 6. And he buried him in a valley in +the land of Moab, ... but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this +day.'--DEUT. xxxiv.5, 6. + + +A fitting end to such a life! The great law-giver and leader had been +all his days a lonely man; and now, surrounded by a new generation, and +all the old familiar faces vanished, he is more solitary than ever. He +had lived alone with God, and it was fitting that alone with God he +should die. + +How the silent congregation must have watched, as, alone, with 'natural +strength unabated,' he breasted the mountain, and went up to be seen no +more! With dignified reticence our chapter tells us no details. He +'died there,' in that dreary solitude, and in some cleft he was buried, +and no man knows where. The lessons of that solitary death and unknown +tomb may best be learned by contrast with another death and another +grave--those of the Leader of the New Covenant, the Law-giver and +Deliverer from a worse bondage, and Guide into a better Canaan, the Son +who was faithful over His own house, as Moses was 'faithful in all his +house, as a servant.' That lonely and forgotten grave among the savage +cliffs was in keeping with the whole character and work of him who lay +there. + + Here,--here's his place, where meteors shoot, clouds form, + Lightnings are loosened, + Stars come and go! Let joy break with the storm, + Peace let the dew send! + Lofty designs must close in like effects; Loftily lying, + Leave him--still loftier than the world suspects, + Living and dying.' + +Contrast that grave with the sepulchre in the garden where Jesus lay, +close by a city wall, guarded by foes, haunted by troops of weeping +friends, visited by a great light of angel faces. The one was hidden +and solitary, as teaching the loneliness and mystery of death; the +other revealed light in the darkness, and companionship in the +loneliness. The one faded from men's memory because it was nothing to +any man; no impulses, nor hopes, nor gifts, could come from it. The +other forever draws hearts and memories, because in it was wrought out +the victory in which all our hopes are rooted. An endured cross, an +empty grave, an occupied throne, are as the threefold cord on which all +our hopes hang. Moses was solitary as God's servant in life and death, +and oblivion covered his mountain grave. Christ's 'delights were with +the sons of men.' He lived among them, and all men 'know his sepulchre +to this day.' + +I. Note, then, first, as a lesson gathered from this lonely death, the +penalty of transgression. + +One of the great truths which the old law and ordinances given by Moses +were intended to burn in on the conscience of the Jew, and through him +on the conscience of the world, was that indissoluble connection +between evil done and evil suffered, which reaches its highest +exemplification in the death which is the 'wages of sin.' And just as +some men that have invented instruments for capital punishment have +themselves had to prove the sharpness of their own axe, so the +lawgiver, whose message it had been to declare, 'the soul that sinneth +it shall die,' had himself to go up alone to the mountain-top to +receive in his own person the exemplification of the law that had been +spoken by his own lips. He sinned when, in a moment of passion (with +many palliations and excuses), he smote the rock that he was bidden to +address, and forgot therein, and in his angry words to the rebels, that +he was only an instrument in the divine hand. It was a momentary +wavering in a hundred and twenty years of obedience. It was one failure +in a life of self-abnegation and suppression. The stern sentence came. + +People say, 'A heavy penalty for a small offence.' Yes; but an offence +of Moses could not be a small offence.' _Noblesse oblige!_ The +higher a man rises in communion with God, and the more glorious the +message and office which are put into his hands, the more intolerable +in him is the slightest deflection from the loftiest level. A splash of +mud, that would never be seen on a navvy's clothes, stains the white +satin of a bride or the embroidered garment of a noble. And so a little +sin done by a loftily endowed and inspired man ceases to be small. + +Nor are we to regard that momentary lapse only from the outside and the +surface. One little mark under the armpit of a plague-sufferer tells +the physician that the fatal disease is there. A tiny leaf above ground +may tell that, deep below, lurks the root of a poison plant. That +little deflection, coming as it did at the beginning of the resumption +of his functions by the Lawgiver after seven-and-thirty years of +comparative abeyance, and on his first encounter with the new +generation that he had to lead, was a very significant indication that +his character had begun to yield and suffer from the strain that had +been put upon it; and that, in fact, he was scarcely fit for the +responsibilities that the new circumstances brought. So the penalty was +not so disproportionate to the fault as it may seem. + +And was the penalty such a very great one? Do you think that a man who +had been toiling for eighty years at a very thankless task would +consider it a very severe punishment to be told, 'Go home and take your +wages'? It did not mean the withdrawal of the divine favour. 'Moses and +Aaron among his priests. ... Thou wast a God that forgavest them, +though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.' The penalty of a +forgiven sin is never hard to bear, and the penalty of a forgiven sin +is very often punctually and mercifully exacted. + +But still we are not to ignore the fact that this lonely death, with +which we are now concerned, is of the nature of a penal infliction. And +so it stands forth in consonance with the whole tone of the Mosaic +teaching. I admit, of course, that the mere physical fact of the +separation between body and spirit is simply the result of natural law. +But that is not the death that you and I know. Death as we know it, the +ugly thing that flings its long shadows across all life, and that comes +armed with terrors for conscience and spirit, is 'the wages of sin,' +and is only experienced by men who have transgressed the law of God. So +far Moses in his life and in his death carries us--that no +transgression escapes the appropriate punishment; that the smallest sin +has in it the seeds of mortal consequences; that the loftiest saint +does not escape the law of retribution. + +And no further does Moses with his Law and his death carry us. But we +turn to the other death. And there we find the confirmation, in an +eminent degree, of that Law, and yet the repeal of it. It is confirmed +and exhausted in Jesus Christ. His death was 'the wages of sin.' Whose? +Not His. Mine, yours, every man's. And because He died, surrounded by +men, outside the old city wall, pure and sinless in Himself, He therein +both said 'Amen' to the Law of Moses, and swept it away. For all the +sins of the world were laid upon His head, He bore the curse for us +all, and has emptied the bitter cup which men's transgressions have +mingled. Therefore the solitary death in the desert proclaims 'the +wages of sin'; that death outside the city wall proclaims 'the gift of +God,' which is 'eternal life.' + +II. Another of the lessons of our incident is the withdrawal, by a hard +fate, of the worker on the very eve of the completion of his work. + +For all these forty years there had gleamed before the fixed and +steadfast spirit of the sorely tried leader one hope that he never +abandoned, and that was that he might look upon and enter into the +blessed land which God had promised. And now he stands on the heights +of Moab. Half a dozen miles onwards, as the crow flies, and his feet +would tread its soil. He lifts his eyes, and away up yonder, in the far +north, he sees the rolling uplands of Gilead, and across the deep gash +where the Jordan runs, he catches a glimpse of the blue hills of +Naphtali or of Galilee, and the central mountain masses of Ephraim and +Manasseh, where Ebal and Gerizim lift their heads; and then, further +south, the stony summits of the Judaean hills, where Jerusalem and +Bethlehem lie, and, through some gap in the mountains, a gleam as of +sunshine upon armour tells where the ocean is. And then his eye falls +upon the waterless plateau of the South, and at his feet the fertile +valley of Jordan, with Jericho glittering amongst its palm trees like a +diamond set in emeralds, and on some spur of the lower hill bounding +the plain, the little Zoar. This was the land which the Lord had +promised to the fathers, for which he had been yearning, and to which +all his work had been directed all these years; and now he is to die, +as my text puts it, with such pathetic emphasis, 'there in Moab,' and +to have no part in the fair inheritance. + +It is the lot of all epoch-making men, of all great constructive and +reforming geniuses, whether in the Church or in the world, that they +should toil at a task, the full issues of which will not be known until +their heads are laid low in the dust. But if, on the one hand, that +seems hard, on the other hand there is the compensation of 'the vision +of the future and all the wonder that shall be,' which is granted many +a time to the faithful worker ere he closes his eyes. But that is not +the fate of epoch-making and great men only; it is the law for our +little lives. If these are worth anything, they are constructed on a +scale too large to bring out all their results here and now. It is easy +for a man to secure immediate consequences of an earthly kind; easy +enough for him to make certain that he shall have the fruit of his +toil. But quick returns mean small profits; and an unfinished life that +succeeds in nothing may be far better than a completed one, that has +realised all its shabby purposes and accomplished all its petty +desires. Do you, my brother, live for the far-off; and seek not for the +immediate issues and fruits that the world can give, but be contented +to be of those whose toil waits for eternity to disclose its +significance. Better a half-finished temple than a finished pigstye or +huckster's shop. Better a life, the beginning of much and the +completion of nothing, than a life directed to and hitting an earthly +aim. 'He that soweth to the spirit shall of the Spirit reap life +everlasting,' and his harvest and garner are beyond the grave. + +III. Again, notice here the lesson of the solitude and mystery of +death. + +Moses dies alone, with no hand to clasp his, none to close his eyes; +but God's finger does it. The outward form of his death is but putting +into symbol and visibility the awful characteristics of that last +moment for us all. However closely we have been twined with others, +each of us has to unclasp dear hands, and make that journey through the +narrow, dark tunnel by himself. We live alone in a very real sense, but +we each have to die as if there were not another human being in the +whole universe but only ourselves. But the solitude may be a solitude +with God. Up there, alone with the stars and the sky and the +everlasting rocks and menacing death, Moses had for companion the +supporting God. That awful path is not too desolate and lonely to be +trodden if we tread it with Him. + +Moses' lonely death leads to a society yonder. If you refer to the +thirty-second chapter you will find that, when he was summoned to the +mountain, God said to him, 'Die in the mount whither thou goest up, and +be gathered to thy people.' He was to be buried there, up amongst the +rocks of Moab, and no man was ever to visit his sepulchre to drop a +tear over it. How, then, was he 'gathered to his people'? Surely only +thus, that, dying in the desert alone, he opened his eyes in 'the +City,' surrounded by 'solemn troops and sweet societies' of those to +whom he was kindred. So the solitude of a moment leads on to blessed +and eternal companionship. + +So far the death of Moses carries us. What does the other death say? +Moses had none but God with him when he died. There is a drearier +desolation than that, and Jesus Christ proved it when He cried, 'My +God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' That was solitude indeed, and +in that hour of mysterious, and to us unfathomable, desertion and +misery, the lonely Christ sounded a depth, of which the lawgiver in His +death but skimmed the surface. Christ was parted from God in His death, +because He bore on Him the sins that separate us from our Father, and +in order that none of us may ever need to tread that dark passage +alone, but may be able to say, 'I will fear no evil, for Thou art with +me'--Thou, who hast trodden every step in its rough and dreary path, +uncheered by the presence which cheers us and millions more. Christ +died that we might live. He died alone that, when we come to die, we +may hold His hand and the solitude may vanish. + +Then, again, our incident teaches us the mystery that wrapped death to +that ancient world, of which we may regard that unknown and forgotten +sepulchre as the visible symbol. Deep darkness lies over the Old +Testament in reference to what is beyond the grave, broken by gleams of +light, when the religious consciousness asserted its indestructibility, +in spite of all appearance to the contrary; but never growing to the +brightness of serene and continuous assurance of immortal life and +resurrection. We may conceive that mysteriousness as set forth for us +by that grave that was hidden away in the defiles of Moab, unvisited +and uncared for by any. + +We turn to the other grave, and there, as the stone is rolled away, and +the rising sunshine of the Easter morning pours into it, we have a +visible symbol of the life and immortality which Jesus Christ then +brought to light by His Gospel. The buried grave speaks of the +inscrutable mystery that wrapped the future: the open sepulchre +proclaims the risen Lord of life, and the sunlight certainty of future +blessedness which we owe to Him. Death is solitary no more, though it +be lonely as far as human companionship is concerned; and a mystery no +more, though what is beyond is hidden from our view, and none but +Christ has ever returned to tell the tale, and He has told us little +but the fact that we shall live with Him. + +We rejoice that we have not to turn to a grave hid amongst the hills +where our dead Leader lies, but to an open sepulchre by the city wall +in the sunshine, from whence has come forth the ever-living 'Captain of +our salvation.' + +IV. The last lesson is the uselessness of a dead leader to a generation +with new conflicts. + +Commentators have spent a great deal of ingenuity in trying to assign +reasons why God concealed the grave of Moses. The text does not say +that God concealed it at all. The ignorance of the place of his +sepulchre does not seem to have been part of the divine design, but +simply a consequence of the circumstances of his death, and of the fact +that he lay in an enemy's land, and that they had had something else to +do than go to look for the grave of a dead commander. They had to +conquer the land, and a living Joshua was what they wanted, not a dead +Moses. + +So we may learn from this how easily the gaps fill. 'Thirty days' +mourning,' and says my text, with almost a bitter touch,' so the days +of mourning for Moses were ended.' A month of it, that was all; and +then everybody turned to the new man that was appointed for the new +work. God has many tools in His tool-chest, and He needs them all +before the work is done. Joshua could no more have wielded Moses' rod +than Moses could have wielded Joshua's sword. The one did his work, and +was laid aside. New circumstances required a new type of character--the +smaller man better fitted for the rougher work. And so it always is. +Each generation, each period, has its own men that do some little part +of the work which has to be done, and then drop it and hand over the +task to others. The division of labour is the multiplication of joy at +the end, and 'he that soweth and he that reapeth rejoice together.' +But whilst the one grave tells us, 'This man served his generation by +the will of God, and was laid asleep and saw corruption,' the other +grave proclaims One whom all generations need, whose work is +comprehensive and complete, who dies never. 'He liveth and was dead, +and is alive for evermore.' Christ, and Christ alone, can never be +antiquated. This day requires Him, and has in Him as complete an answer +to all its necessities as if no other generation had ever possessed +Him. He liveth for ever, and for ever is the Shepherd of men. + +So Aaron dies and is buried on Hor, and Moses dies and is buried on +Pisgah, and Joshua steps into his place, and, in turn, he disappears. +The one eternal Word of God worked through them all, and came at last +Himself in human flesh to be the Everlasting Deliverer, Redeemer, +Founder of the Covenant, Lawgiver, Guide through the wilderness, +Captain of the warfare, and all that the world or a single soul can +need until the last generation has crossed the flood, and the wandering +pilgrims are gathered in the land of their inheritance. The dead Moses +pre-supposes and points to the living Christ. Let us take Him for our +all-sufficing and eternal Guide. + + + + +THE BOOK OF JOSHUA + + + + +THE NEW LEADERS COMMISSION + +'Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, +that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, +saying, 2. Moses My servant is dead: now therefore arise, go over this +Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to +them, even to the children of Israel. 3. Every place that the sole of +your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto +Moses. 4. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great +river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the +great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5. +There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of +thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail +thee, nor forsake thee. 6. Be strong and of a good courage; for unto +this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware +unto their fathers to give them. 7. Only be thou strong and very +courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, +which Moses My servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right +hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. +8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou +shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do +according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy +way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9. Have not I +commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither +be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou +goest. 10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, +11. Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you +victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go +in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess +it.'--JOSHUA I. 1-11. + + +The closest connection exists between Deuteronomy and Joshua. The +narrative may be read as running on without a break. It turns away from +the lonely grave up on the mountain to the bustling camp and the new +leader. No man is indispensable. God's work goes on uninterrupted. The +instruments are changed, but the Master-hand is the same, and lays one +tool aside and takes another out of the tool-chest as He will. Moses is +dead,--what then? Does his death paralyse the march of the tribes? No; +it is but the ground for the ringing command, 'Therefore arise, go over +this Jordan.' The immediate installation of his successor, and the +uninterrupted continuance of the advance, do not mean that Moses is not +honoured or is forgotten, for the narrative lovingly links his +honorific title, 'the servant of the Lord,' with the mention of his +death; and God Himself does the same, for he is thrice referred to in +the divine command to Joshua, as the recipient of the promise of the +conquest, as the example of the highest experience of God's all- +sufficing companionship, and as the medium by which Israel received the +law. Joshua steps into the empty place, receives the same great +promise, is assured of the same Presence, and is to obey the same law. +The change of leaders is great, but nothing else is changed; and even +it is not so great as faint hearts in their sorrow are apt to think, +for the real Leader lives, and Moses and Joshua alike are but the +transmitters of His orders and His aids to Israel. + +The first command given to Joshua was a trial of his faith, for 'Jordan +was in flood' (Joshua iii. l5),--and how was that crowd to get across, +when fords were impassable and ferry-boats were wanting, to say nothing +of the watchful eyes that were upon them from the other bank? To cross +a stream in the face of the enemy is a ticklish operation, even for +modern armies; what must it have been, then, for Joshua and his horde? +Not a hint is given him as to the means by which the crossing is to be +made possible. He has Jehovah's command to do it, and Jehovah's promise +to be with him, and that is to be enough. We too have sometimes to face +undertakings which we cannot see how to carry through; but if we do see +that the path is one appointed by God, and will boldly tread it, we may +be quite sure that, when we come to what at present seems like a +mountain wall across it, we shall find that the glen opens as we +advance, and that there is a way,--narrow, perhaps, and dangerous, but +practicable. 'One step enough for me' should be our motto. We may trust +God not to command impossibilities, nor to lead us into a _cul de +sac._ + +The promise to Moses (Deut. ii. 24) is repeated almost verbally in +verse 4. The boundaries of the land are summarily given as from 'the +wilderness' in the south to 'this Lebanon' in the north, and from the +Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. 'The land of +the Hittites' is not found in the original passage in Deuteronomy, and +it seems to be a designation of the territory between Lebanon and the +Euphrates, which we now know to have been the seat of the northern +Hittites, while the southern branch was planted round Hebron and the +surrounding district. But these wide boundaries were not attained till +late in the history, and were not long retained. Did the promise, then, +fail? No, for it, like all the promises, was contingent on conditions, +and Israel's unfaithfulness cut short its extent of territory. We, too, +fail to possess all the land destined for us. Our charter is much wider +than our actual wealth. God gives more than we take, and we are content +to occupy but a corner of the broad land which He has given us. In like +manner Joshua did not realise to the full the following promise of +uniform victory, but was defeated at Ai and elsewhere. The reason was +the same,--the faithlessness of the people. Unbelief and sin turn a +Samson into a weakling, and make Israel flee before the ranks of the +Philistines. + +The great encouragement given to Joshua in entering on his hard and +perilous enterprise is twice repeated here: 'As I was with Moses, so +will I be with thee.' Did Joshua remember how, nearly forty years +since, he had fronted the mob of cowards with the very same assurance, +and how the answer had been a shower of stones? The cowards are all +dead,--will their sons believe the assurance now? If we do believe that +God is with us, we shall be ready to cross Jordan in flood, and to meet +the enemies that are waiting on the other bank. If we do not, we shall +not dare greatly, nor succeed in what we attempt. The small successes +of material wealth and gratified ambition may be ours, but for all the +higher duties and nobler conflicts that become a man, the condition of +achievement and victory is steadfast faith in God's presence and help. + +That assurance--which we may all have if we cling to Jesus, in whom God +comes to be with every believing soul--is the only basis on which the +command to Joshua, thrice repeated, can wisely or securely be rested. +It is mockery to say to a man conscious of weakness, and knowing that +there are evils which must surely come, and evils which may possibly +come, against which he is powerless, 'Don't be afraid' unless you can +show him good reason why he need not be. And there is only one reason +which can still reasonable dread in a human heart that has to front +'all the ills that flesh is heir to,' and sees behind them all the grim +form of death. He ought to be afraid, unless--unless what? Unless he +has heard and taken into his inmost soul the Voice that said to Joshua, +'I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee: be strong and of a good +courage,' or, still more sweet and peace-bringing, the Voice that said +to the frightened crew of the fishing-boat in the storm and the +darkness,' It is I; be not afraid.' If we know that Christ is with us, +it is wise to be strong and courageous; if we are meeting the tempest +alone, the best thing we can do is to fear, for the fear may drive us +to seek for His help, and He ever stretches out His hand to him who is +afraid, as he ought to be, when he feels the cold water rising above +his knees, and by his very fear is driven to faith, and cries, 'Lord, +save; I perish!' + +Courage that does not rest on Christ's presence is audacity rather than +courage, and is sure to collapse, like a pricked bladder, when the +sharp point of a real peril comes in contact with it. If we sit down +and reckon the forces that we have to oppose to the foes that we are +sure to meet, we shall find ourselves unequal to the fight, and, if we +are wise, shall 'send the ambassage' of a humble desire to the great +King, who will come to our help with His all-conquering powers. Then, +and only then, shall we be safe in saying,' I will not fear what man +can do unto me, or devils either,' when we have said,' In God have I +put my trust,' and have heard Him answering, 'I will not fail thee, nor +forsake thee. + + + + +THE CHARGE TO THE SOLDIER OF THE LORD + +'Only be then strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to +do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded thee... +that thou mayest prosper wheresoever thou goest. 8. This book of the +law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein +day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is +written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then +thou shalt have good success.'--JOSHUA i. 7,8. + + +This is the central portion of the charge given to the successor of +Moses. Joshua was a very small man in comparison with his predecessor. +He was no prophet nor constructive genius; he was not capable of the +heights of communion and revelation which the lofty spirit of Moses was +able to mount. He was only a plain, fiery soldier, with energy, swift +decision, promptitude, self-command, and all the military virtues in +the highest degree. The one thing that he needed was to be 'strong and +courageous'; and over and over again in this chapter you will find that +injunction pealed into his ears. He is the type of the militant servant +of the Lord, and the charge to him embodies the duties of all such. + +I. We have here the duty of courageous strength. + +Christianity has altered the perspective of human virtues, has thrown +the gentler ones into prominence altogether unknown before, and has +dimmed the brilliancy of the old heroic type of character; but it has +not struck those virtues out of its list. Whilst the perspective is +altered, there is as much need in the lowliest Christian life for the +loftiest heroism as ever there was. For in no mere metaphor, but in +grim earnest, all Christian progress is conflict, and we have to fight, +not only with the evils that are within, but, if we would be true to +the obligations of our profession and loyal to the commands of our +Master, we have to take our part in the great campaign which He has +inaugurated and is ever carrying on against every abuse and oppression, +iniquity and sin, that grinds down the world and makes our brethren +miserable and servile. So, then, in these words we have directions in +regard to a side of the Christian character, indispensable to-day as +ever, and the lack of which cannot be made up for by any amount of +sweet and contemplative graces. + +Jesus Christ is the type of both. The Conqueror of Canaan and the +Redeemer of the world bear the same name. The Jesus whom we trust was a +Joshua. And let us learn the lesson that neither the conqueror of the +typical and material land of promise nor the Redeemer who has won the +everlasting heaven for our portion could do their work without the +heroic side of human excellence being manifestly developed. Do you +remember 'He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem'? Do you +remember that the Apostle whom a hasty misconception has thought of as +the gentlest of the Twelve, because he had most to say about love, is +the Apostle that more emphatically than any other rings into our ears +over and over again the thought of the Christ, militant and victorious, +the Hero as well as the patient Sufferer, the 'Captain of our +salvation'? And so let us recognise how both the gentler and the +stronger graces, the pacific and the warlike side of human excellence, +have their highest development in Jesus Christ, and learn that the +firmest strength must be accompanied with the tenderest love and +swathed in meekest gentleness. As another Apostle has it in his +pregnant, brief injunctions, ringing and laconic like a general's word +of command, 'Quit you like men I be strong! let all your deeds be done +in love!' Braid the two things together, for the mightiest strength is +the love that conquers hate, and the only love that is worthy of a man +is the love that is strong to contend and to overcome. + +'Be strong.' Then strength is a duty; then weakness is a sin. Then the +amount of strength that we possess and wield is regulated by ourselves. +We have our hands on the sluice. We may open it to let the whole full +tide run in, or we may close it till a mere dribble reaches us. For the +strength which is strength, and not merely weakness in a fever, is a +strength derived, and ours because derived. The Apostle gives the +complete version of the exhortation when he says: 'Finally, my +brethren,' that Omega of command which is the Alpha of performance, 'be +strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' Let Christ's +strength in. Open the heart wide that it may come. Keep yourself in +continual touch with God, the fountain of all power. Trust is strength, +because trust touches the Rock of Ages. + +For this reason the commandment to be strong and of good courage is in +the text based upon this: 'As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. +I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.' Our strength depends on +ourselves, because our strength is the fruit of our faith. And if we +live with Him, grasping His hand and, in the realising consciousness of +our own weakness, looking beyond ourselves, then power will come to us +above our desire and equal to our need. The old victories of faith will +be reproduced in us when we say with the ancient king, 'Lord! We know +not what to do, but our eyes are up unto Thee.' Then He will come to +us, to make us 'strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' +'Wait on the Lord and He will strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on +the Lord.' + +But courage is duty, too, as well as strength. Power and the +consciousness of power do not always go together. In regard to the +strength of nature, courage and might are quite separable. There may be +a strong coward and a weak hero. But in the spiritual region, strength +and courage do go together. The consciousness of the divine power with +us, and that alone, will make us bold with a boldness that has no taint +of levity and presumption mingled with it, and never will overestimate +its own strength. The charge to Joshua, then, not only insists upon the +duty of strength, but on the duty of conscious strength, and on the +duty of measuring the strength that is at my back with the weakness +that is against me, and of being bold because I know that more and +'greater is He that is with me than are they that be with them.' + +II. So much, then, for the first of the exhortations here. Now look +next at the duty of implicit obedience to the word of command. + +That is another soldierly virtue, the exercise of which sheds a +nobility over the repulsive horrors of the battlefield. Joshua had to +be fitted to command by learning to obey, and, like that other soldier +whose rough trade had led him to some inkling of Christ's authority by +its familiarising him with the idea of the strange power of the word of +command, had to realise that he himself was 'under authority' before he +could issue his orders. + +Courage and strength come first, and on them follows the command to do +all according to the law, to keep it without deflection to right or +left, and to meditate on it day and night. These two virtues make the +perfect soldier-courage and obedience. Daring and discipline must go +together, and to know how to follow orders is as essential as to know +how to despise dangers. + +But the connection between these two, as set forth in this charge, is +not merely that they must co-exist, but that courage and strength are +needed for, and are to find their noblest field of exercise in, +absolute acceptance of, and unhesitating, swift, complete, unmurmuring +obedience to, everything that is discerned to be God's will and our +duty. + +For the Christian soldier, then, God's law is his marching orders. The +written word, and especially the Incarnate Word, are our law of +conduct. The whole science of our warfare and plan of campaign are +there. We have not to take our orders from men's lips, but we must +often disregard them, that we may listen to the 'Captain of our +salvation.' The soldier stands where his officer has posted him, and +does what he was bid, no matter what may happen. Only one voice can +relieve him. Though a thousand should bid him flee, and his heart +should echo their advices, he is recreant if he deserts his post at the +command of any but him who set him there. Obedience to others is +mutiny. Nor does the Christian need another law to supplement that +which Christ has given him in His pattern and teaching. Men have +appended huge comments to it, and have softened some of its plain +precepts which bear hard on popular sins. But the Lawgiver's law is one +thing, and the lawyers' explanations which explain it away or darken +what was clear enough, however unwelcome, are quite another. Christ has +given us Himself, and therein has given a sufficient directory for +conduct and conflict which fits close to all our needs, and will prove +definite and practical enough if we honestly try to apply it. + +The application of Christ's law to daily life takes some courage, and +is the proper field for the exercise of Christian strength. 'Be very +courageous that thou mayest observe.' If you are not a bold Christian +you will very soon get frightened out of obedience to your Master's +commandments. Courage, springing from the realisation of God's helping +strength, is indispensable to make any man, in any age, live out +thoroughly and consistently the principles of the law of Jesus Christ. +No man in _this_ generation will work out a punctual obedience to +what he knows to be the will of God, without finding out that all the +'Canaanites' are not dead yet; but that there are enough of them left +to make a very thorny life for the persistent follower of Jesus Christ. + +And not only is there courage needed for the application of the +principles of conduct which God has given us, but you will never have +them handy for swift application unless, in many a quiet hour of +silent, solitary, patient meditation you have become familiar with +them. The recruit that has to learn on the battle-field how to use his +rifle has a good chance of being dead before he has mastered the +mysteries of firing. And Christian people that have their Christian +principles to dig out of the Bible when the necessity comes, will +likely find that the necessity is past before they have completed the +excavation. The actual battle-field is no place to learn drill. If a +soldier does not know how his sword hangs, and cannot get at it in a +moment, he will probably draw it too late. + +I am afraid that the practice of such meditation as is meant here has +come to be, like the art of making ecclesiastical stained glass, almost +extinct in modern times. You have all so many newspapers and magazines +to read that the Bible has a chance of being shoved out of sight, +except on Sundays and in chapels. The 'meditating' that is enjoined in +my text is no mere intellectual study of Scripture, either from an +antiquarian or a literary or a theological point of view, but it is the +mastering of the principles of conduct as laid down there, and the +appropriating of all the power for guidance and for sustaining which +that word of the Lord gives. Meditation, the familiarising ourselves +with the ethics of Scripture, and with the hopes and powers that are +treasured in Jesus Christ, so that our minds are made up upon a great +many thorny questions as to what we ought to do, and that when crises +or dangers come, as they have a knack of coming, very suddenly, and are +sprung upon us unexpectedly, we shall be able, without much difficulty, +or much time spent in perplexed searching, to fall back upon the +principles that decide our conduct--that is essential to all successful +and victorious Christian life. + +And it is the secret of all blessed Christian life. For there is a +lovely echo of these vigorous words of command to Joshua in a very much +more peaceful form in the 1st Psalm: 'Blessed is the man that walketh +not in the counsel of the ungodly, ... but his delight is in the law of +the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night'--the very +words that are employed in the text to describe the duty of the +soldier--therefore 'all that he doeth shall prosper.' + +III. That leads to the last thought here--the sure victory of such bold +obedience. + +'Thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest'; 'Thou shalt make thy +way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success,' or, as the last +word might be rendered, 'then shalt thou _act wisely_' You may not +get victory from an earthly point of view, for many a man that lives +strong and courageous and joyfully obeying God's law, as far as he +knows it and because he loves the Lawgiver, goes through life, and +finds that, as far as the world's estimate is concerned, there is +nothing but failure as his portion. Ah I but the world's way is not the +true way of estimating victory. 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the +world,' said Jesus Christ when within arm's-length of the Cross. And +His way is the way in which we must conquer the world, if we conquer it +at all. The success which my text means is the carrying out of +conscientious convictions of God's will into practice. That is the only +success that is worth talking about or looking for. The man that +succeeds in obeying and translating God's will into conduct is the +victor, whatever be the outward fruits of his life. He may go out of +the field beaten, according to the estimate of men that can see no +higher than their own height, and little further than their own finger +tips can reach; he may himself feel that the world has gone past him, +and that he has not made much of it; he may have to lie down at last +unknown, poor, with all his bright hopes that danced before him in +childhood gone, and sore beaten by the enemies; but if he is able to +say in the strength that Christ gives, 'I have finished my course; I +have kept the faith,' his 'way has prospered,' and he has had' good +success.' 'We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.' + +THE UNTRODDEN PATH AND THE GUIDING ARK + +'Come not near unto the ark, that ye may know the way by which ye must +go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.'--JOSHUA iii. 4. + +It was eminently true of Israel that they had 'not passed this way +heretofore,' inasmuch as the path which was opening before them, +through the oozy bed of the river, had never been seen by human eye, +nor trodden by man's foot. Their old leader was dead. There were only +two of the whole host that had ever been out of the desert in their +lives. They had a hard task before them. Jericho lay there, gleaming +across the plain, among the palm-trees, backed by the savage cliffs, up +the passes in which they would have to fight their way. So that we need +not wonder that, over and over again, in these early chapters of this +book, the advice in reiterated, 'Be of good courage. Be strong and fear +not!' They needed special guidance, and they received very special +guidance, and my text tells us what they had to do, in order to realise +the full blessing and guidance that was given them. 'Let there be a +space of 2000 cubits by measure between you and the ark'--three- +quarters of a mile or thereabouts--'do not press close upon the heels +of the bearers, for you will not be able to see where they are going if +you crowd on them. Be patient. Let the course of the ark disclose +itself before you try to follow it, that ye may know the way by which +ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore.' + +I. Note the untrodden path. + +I suppose that most of us have to travel a very well-worn road, and +that our course, in the cases of all except those in early life, is +liker that of a millhorse than an untrodden path. Most of us are +continually treading again in the prints of our own footsteps. A long, +weary stretch of monotonous duties, and the repetition of the same +things to-day that we did yesterday is the destiny of most of us. + +Some of us, perhaps, may be standing upon the verge of some new scenes +in our lives. Some of you young people may have come up to a great city +for the first time to carve out a position for yourselves, and are for +the first time encompassed by the temptations of being unknown in a +crowd. Some of you may be in new domestic circumstances, some with new +sorrows, or tasks, or difficulties pressing upon you, calling for +wisdom and patience. It is quite likely that there may be some who, in +the most prosaic and literal sense of the words, are entering on a path +altogether new and untrodden. But they will be in the minority, and for +the most of us the days that were full of new possibilities are at an +end, and we have to expect little more than the monotonous repetition +of the habitual, humdrum duties of mature life. We have climbed the +winding paths up the hill, and most of us are upon the long plateau +that stretches unvaried, until it begins to dip at the further edge. +And some of us are going down that other side of the hill. + +But whatever may be the variety in regard to the mere externals of our +lives, how true it is about us all that even the most familiar duties +of to-day are not quite like the same duties when they had to be done +yesterday; and that the path for each of us--though, as we go along, we +find in it nothing new--is yet an untrodden path! For we are not quite +the same as we were yesterday, though our work may be the same, and the +difference in us makes it in some measure different. + +But what mainly makes even the most well-beaten paths new at the +thousandth time of traversing them is our ignorance of what may be +waiting round the next turn of the road. The veil that hangs before and +hides the future is a blessing, though we sometimes grumble at it, and +sometimes petulantly try to make pinholes through it, and peep in to +see a little of what is behind it. It brings freshness into our lives, +and a possibility of anticipation, and even of wonder and expectation, +that prevents us from stagnating. Even in the most habitual repetition +of the same tasks 'ye have not passed this way heretofore.' And life +for every one of us is still full of possibilities so great and so +terrible that we may well feel that the mist that covers the future is +a blessing and a source of strength for us all. + +Our march through time is like that of men in a mist, in which things +loom in strangely distorted shapes, unlike their real selves, until we +get close up to them, and only then do we discover them. + +So for us all the path is new and unknown by reason of the sudden +surprises that may be sprung upon us, by reason of the sudden +temptations that may start up at any moment in our course, by reason of +the earthquakes that may shatter the most solid-seeming lives, by +reason of the sudden calamities that may fall upon us. The sorrows that +we anticipate seldom come, and those that do come are seldom +anticipated. The most fatal bolts are generally from the blue. One +flash, all unlooked for, is enough to blast the tree in all its leafy +pride. Many of us, I have no doubt, can look back to times in our lives +when, without anticipation on our parts, or warning from anything +outside of us, a smiting hand fell upon some of our blessings. The +morning dawned upon the gourd in full vigour of growth, and in the +evening it was stretched yellow and wilted upon the turf. Dear +brethren, anything may come out of that dark cloud through which our +life's course has to pass, and there are some things concerning which +all that we know is that they must come. + +These are very old threadbare thoughts; I dare say you think it was not +worth your while to come to hear them, nor mine to speak them; but if +we would lay them to heart, and realise how true it is about every step +of our earthly course that 'ye have not passed this way heretofore,' we +should complain less than we do of the weariness and prosaic character +of our commonplace lives, and feel that all was mystical and great and +awful; and yet most blessed in its possibilities and its uncertainties. + +II. Note, again, the guiding ark. + +It was a new thing that the ark should become the guide of the people. +All through the wilderness, according to the history, it had been +carried in the centre of the march, and had had no share in the +direction of the course. That had been done by the pillar of cloud. +But, just as the manna ceased when the tribes got across the Jordan and +could eat the bread of the land, the miracle ending and they being left +to trust to ordinary means of supply at the earliest possible moment, +so there ensued an approximation to ordinary guidance, which is none +the less real because it is granted without miracle. The pillar of +cloud ceased to move before the people in the crossing of the Jordan, +and its place was taken by the material symbol of the presence of God, +which contained the tables of the law as the basis of the covenant. And +that ark moved at the commandment of the leader Joshua, for he was the +mouthpiece of the divine will in the matter. And so when the ark moved +at the bidding of the leader, and became the guide of the people, there +was a kind of a drop down from the pure supernatural of the guiding +pillar. + +For us a similar thing is true. Jesus Christ is the true Ark of God. +For what was the ark? the symbol of the divine Presence; and Christ is +the reality of the divine Presence with men. The whole content of that +ark was the 'law of the Lord,' and Jesus Christ is the embodied law of +the present God. The ark was the sign that God had entered into this +covenant with these people, and that they had a right to say to Him, +'Thou art our God, and we are Thy people,' and the same double +assurance of reciprocal possession and mutual delight in possession is +granted to us in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. + +So He becomes the guiding Ark, the Shepherd of Israel. His presence and +will are our directors. The law, which is contained and incorporated in +Him, is that by which we are to walk. The covenant which He has +established in His own blood between God and man contains in itself not +only the direction for conduct, but also the motives which will impel +us to walk where and as He enjoins. + +And so, every way we may say, by His providences which He appoints, by +His example which He sets us, by His gracious word in which He sums up +all human duties in the one sweet obligation, 'Follow Me,' and even +more by His Spirit that dwells in us, and whispers in our ears, 'This +is the way; walk ye in it,' and enlightens every perplexity, and +strengthens all feebleness, and directs our footsteps into the way of +peace; that living and personal Ark of the covenant of the Lord of the +whole earth is still the guide of waiting and docile hearts. Jesus +Christ's one word to us is, 'If any man serve Me, let him follow Me. +And where I am'--of course, seeing he is a follower--'there shall also +My servant be.' + +The one Pattern for us, the one Example that we need to follow, the one +Strength in our perplexities, the true Director of our feet, is that +dear Lord, if we will only listen to Him. And that direction will be +given to us in regard to the trifles, as in regard to the great things +of our lives. + +III. And so the last thought that is here is the watchful following. + +'Come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye ought to +go.' In a shipwreck, the chances are that the boats will be swamped by +the people scrambling into them in too great a hurry. In the +Christian life most of the mistakes that people make arise from their +not letting the ark go far enough ahead of them before they gather up +their belongings and follow it. An impatience of the half-declared +divine will, a running before we are sent, an acting before we are +quite sure that God wills us to do so-and-so, are at the root of most +of the failures of Christian effort, and of a large number of the +miseries of Christian men. If we would only have patience! Three- +quarters of a mile the ark went ahead before a man lifted a foot to +follow it, and there was no mistake possible then. + +Now do not be in a hurry to act. 'Raw haste' is 'half-sister to delay.' +We are all impatient of uncertainty, either in opinion or in conduct; +but if you are not quite sure what God wants you to do, you may be +quite sure that He does not at present want you to do anything. Wait +till you see what He does wish you to do. Better, better far, to spend +hours in silent--although people that know nothing about what we are +doing may call it indolent--waiting for the clear declaration of God's +will, than to hurry on paths which, after we have gone on them far +enough to make it a mortification and a weariness to turn back, we +shall find out to have been not His at all, but only our own mistakes +as to where the ark would have us go. + +And that there may be this patience the one thing needful-as, indeed, +it is the one thing needful for all strength of all kinds in the +Christian life--is the rigid suppression of our own wills. That is the +secret of goodness, and its opposite is the secret of evil. To live by +my own will is to die. Nothing but blunders, nothing but miseries, +nothing but failures, nothing but remorse, will be the fruit of such a +life. And a great many of us who call ourselves Christians are not +Christians in the sense of having Christ's will for our absolute law, +and keeping our own will entirely in subordination thereto. As is the +will, so is the man, and whoever does not bow himself absolutely, and +hush all the babble of his own inclinations and tastes and decisions, +in order that that great Voice may speak, has small chance of ever +walking in the paths of righteousness, or finding that his ways please +the Lord. + +Suppress your own wills, dwell near God, that you may hear His lightest +whisper. 'I will guide thee with Mine eye.' What is the use of the +glance of an eye if the man for whom it is meant is half a mile off, +and staring about him at everything except the eye that would guide? +And that is what some of us that call ourselves Christian people are. +God might look guidance at us for a week, and we should never know that +He was doing it; we have so many other things to look after. And we are +so far away from Him that it would need a telescope for us to see His +face. 'I will guide thee with Mine eye.' Keep near Him, and you will +not lack direction. + + +And so, dear brethren, if we stay ourselves on, and wait patiently for, +Him, and are content to do what He wishes, and never to run without a +clear commission, nor to act without a full conviction of duty, then +the old story of my text will repeat itself in our daily life, as well +as in the noblest form in the last act of life, which is death. The +Lord will move before us and open a safe, dry path for us between the +heaped waters; and where the feet of our great High Priest, bearing the +Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, stood, amidst the slime and the mud, +we may plant our firm feet on the stones that He has left there. And so +the stream of life, like the river of death, will be parted for +Christ's followers, and they will pass over on dry ground, 'until all +the people are passed clean over Jordan.' + + + + +'THE WATERS SAW THEE; THEY WERE AFRAID' + +'And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the +Lord will do wonders among you. 6. And Joshua spake unto the priests, +saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the +people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the +people. 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to +magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I +was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8 And thou shalt command the +priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to +the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. 8. +And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the +words of the Lord your God. 10. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know +that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive +out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, +and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the +Jebusites. 11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the +earth passeth Over before you into Jordan. 12. Now therefore take you +twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 13. +And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the +priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall +rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be out +off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand +upon an heap. 14. And it came to pass, when the people removed from +their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of +the covenant before the people; 15. And as they that bare the ark were +come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were +dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks +all the time of harvest,) 16. That the waters which came down from +above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that +is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the +plain, even the salt sea failed, and were cut off: and the people +passed over right against Jericho. 17. And the priests that bare the +ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst +of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all +the people were passed clean over Jordan.'--JOSHUA iii 5-17. + + +The arrangement of the narrative of the passage of Jordan, which +occupies chapters iii. and iv., is remarkable, and has led to +suggestions of interpolation and blending of two accounts, which are +quite unnecessary. It is divided into four sections,--the preparations +(Joshua in. 1-6), the passage (Joshua in. 7-17), the lifting of the +memorial stones from the river's bed and the fixing of one set of them +in it (Joshua iv. 1-14), the return of the waters, and the erection of +the second set of memorial stones at Gilgal (Joshua iv. 15-24). + +Each section closes with a summary of the whole transaction, after the +common manner of Old Testament history, which gives to a hasty reader +the impression of confusion and repetition; but a little attention +shows a very symmetrical arrangement, negativing the possibility of +interpolation. The last three sections are all built on the same lines. +In each there is a triple division,--God's command to Joshua, Joshua's +communication of it to the people, and the actual fact, fulfilling +these. So each stage passes thrice before the view, and the +impressiveness of the history is heightened by our seeing it first in +the mirror of the divine Word, and then in the orders of the commander, +before we see it as a thing actually happening. + +Verses 5 and 6 of the chapter belong to the section which deals with +the preparation. General instructions had been already issued that the +host was to follow the ark, leaving two thousand cubits between them +and it; but nothing had been said as to how Jordan was to be crossed. +No doubt many a question and doubt had been muttered by the watch- +fires, as the people looked at the muddy, turbid stream, swirling in +flood. The spies probably managed to swim it, but that was a feat +worthy to be named in the epitaph of heroes (1 Chron. xii. 15), and +impossible for the crowd of all ages and both sexes which followed +Joshua. There was the rushing stream, swollen as it always is in +harvest. How were they to get over? And if the people of Jericho, right +over against them, chose to fall upon them as they were struggling +across, what could hinder utter defeat? No doubt, all that was +canvassed, in all sorts of tones; but no inkling of the miracle seems +to have been given. + +God often opens His hand by one finger at a time, and leaves us face to +face with some plain but difficult duty, without letting us see the +helps to its performance, till we need to use them. If we go right on +the road which He has traced out, it will never lead us into a blind +alley. The mountains will part before us as we come near what looked +their impassable wall; and some narrow gorge or other, wide enough to +run a track through, but not wide enough to be noticed before we are +close on it, will be sure to open. The attitude of expectation of God's +help, while its nature is unrevealed, is kept up in Joshua's last +instruction. The people are bidden to 'sanctify themselves, because to- +morrow the Lord will do wonders' among them. That sanctifying was not +external, but included the hallowing of spirit by docile waiting for +His intervention, and by obedience while the manner of it was hidden. +The secret of to-morrow is partly made known, and the faith of the +people is nourished by the mystery remaining, as well as by the light +given. The best security for to-morrow's wonders is to-day's +sanctifying. + +The command to the priests discloses to them a little more, in bidding +them pass over before the people, but the additional disclosure would +only be an additional trial of faith; for the silence as to how so +impossible a command was to be made possible is absolute. The swollen +river had obliterated all fords; and how were priests, staggering under +the weight of the ark on their shoulders, to 'pass over'? The question +is not answered till the ark is on their shoulders. To-day often sees +to-morrow's duty without seeing how it is to be done. But the bearers +of the ark need never fear but that the God to whom it belongs will +take care of it and of them. The last sentence of verse 6 is the +anticipatory summary which closes each section. + +In verses 7-17 we have the narrative of the actual crossing, in its +three divisions of God's command (vs. 7-8), Joshua's repetition of it +(vs. 9-13), and the historical fact (vs. 14-17). The final instructions +were only given on the morning of the day of crossing. The report of +God's commands given in verses 7 and 8 is condensed, as is evident from +the fuller statement of them in Joshua's address to the people, which +immediately follows. In it Joshua is fully aware of the manner of the +miracle and of the details of the crossing, but we have no record of +his having received them. The summary of that eventful morning's +instructions to him emphasises first the bearing of the miracle on his +reputation. The passage of the Red Sea had authenticated the mission of +Moses to the past generation, who, in consequence of it, 'believed God +and His servant Moses.' The new generation are to have a parallel +authentication of Joshua's commission. It is noteworthy that this is +not the purpose of the miracle which the leader announces to the people +in verse 10. It was a message from God to himself, a kind of gracious +whisper meant for his own encouragement. What a thought to fill a man's +heart with humble devotion, that God would work such a wonder in order +to demonstrate that He was with him! And what a glimpse of more to +follow lay in that promise, 'This day will I _begin_ to magnify +thee I' + +The command to the priests in verse 8 is also obviously condensed; for +Joshua's version of it, which follows, is much more detailed, and +contains particular instructions, which must have been derived from the +divine word to him on that morning. + +We may pass on, then, to the second division of the narrative; namely, +Joshua's communication of God's commands to the people. Observe the +form which the purpose of the miracle assumes there. It is the +confirmation of the divine Presence, not with the leader, but with the +people and their consequent victory. Joshua grasped the inmost meaning +of God's Word to himself, and showed noble self-suppression, when he +thus turned the direction of the miracle. The true servant of God knows +that God is with him, not for his personal glorification, but for the +welfare of God's people, and cares little for the estimation in which +men hold him, if they will only believe that the conquering God is with +them. We too often make great leaders and teachers in the church opaque +barriers to hide God from us, instead of transparent windows through +which He shines upon His people. We are a great deal more ready to say, +'God is with him,' than to add, 'and therefore God is with us, in our +Joshuas, and without them.' + +Observe the grand emphasis of that name, 'the living God,' tacitly +contrasted with the dead idols of the enemies, and sealing the +assurance of His swift and all-conquering might. Observe, too, the +triumphant contempt in the enumeration of the many tribes of the foe +with their barbarous names. Five of them had been enough, when named by +the spies' trembling lips, to terrify the congregation, but here the +list of the whole seven but strengthens confidence. Faith delights to +look steadily at its enemies, knowing that the one Helper is more than +they all. This catalogue breathes the same spirit as Paul's rapturous +list of the foes impotent to separate from the love of God. Mark, too, +the long-drawn-out designation of the ark, with its accumulation of +nouns, which grammatical purists have found difficult,--'the ark of the +covenant of the Lord of all the earth'; where it leads they need not +fear to follow. It was the pledge of His presence, it contained the Ten +Words on which His covenant was concluded. That covenant enlisted on +their side Him who was Lord of the swollen river as of all the fierce +clans beyond; and with His ark in front, their victory was sure. If +ever the contemplation of His power and covenant relation was in place, +it was on that morning, as Israel stood ranked for the march that was +to lead them through Jordan, and to plant their feet on the soil of +Canaan. Nor must we omit the peculiar appropriateness of this solemn +designation, on the occasion of the ark's first becoming the leader of +the march. Hitherto it had been carried in the centre; now it was moved +to the van, and took the place of the pillar, which blazed no more. But +the guidance was no less divine. The simple coffer which Bezaleel had +made was as august and reliable a symbol of God's presence as the +pillar; and the tables of the law, shut in it, were henceforth to be +the best directors of the nation. + +Then follows the command to elect twelve representatives of the tribes, +for a purpose not yet explained; and then, at the last moment, the +manner of crossing is disclosed, to the silencing of wise doubters and +the confirmation of ignorant faith. The brief anticipatory announcement +of the miracle puts stress on the arrest of the waters at the instant +when the priests' feet touched them, and tells what is to befall the +arrested torrent above the point where the ark stood, saying nothing +about the lower stretch of the river, and just hinting by one word +'heap' the parallel between this miracle and that of the passing of the +Red Sea: 'The floods stood upright as an heap' (Exod. xv. 8). + +Verses 14-17 narrate the actual crossing. One long sentence, like the +roll of an Atlantic wave, or a long-drawn shout of triumph, masses +together the stages of the march; the breaking up of the encampment; +the solemn advance of the ark, watched by the motionless crowd; its +approach to the foaming stream, running bank-full, as is its wont in +the early harvest months; the decisive moment when the naked feet of +the priests were dipped in the water. What a hush of almost painful +expectation would fall on the gazers! Then, with a rush of triumph, the +long sentence pours on, like a river escaping from some rocky gorge, +and tells the details of the transcendent fact. Looking up stream, the +water 'stood'; and, as the flow above went on, it was dammed up, and, +as would appear, swept back to a point not now known, but apparently +some miles up. Looking down the course, the water flowed naturally to +the Dead Sea; and, in effect, the whole bed southwards was quickly left +bare, giving room for the advance of the people with wide-extended +front, while the priests, with the ark on their shoulders, stood silent +in the midst of the bed, between the heaped waters and the hasting +host. Verse 17 gives the usual summary sentence, which partly +anticipates what is still to follow, but here comes in with special +force, as gathering up the whole wonderful scene, and recounting once +more, and not without a ring of astonished triumph, how the priests +stood firm on dry ground in that strange place, 'until all the nation +were passed clean over Jordan' + +From verses 7 and 10 we learn the purpose of this miracle as being +twofold. It was intended to stamp the seal of God's approbation on +Joshua, and to hearten the people by the assurance of God's fighting +for them. The leader was thereby put on the level of Moses, the people, +on that of the generation before whom the Red Sea had been divided. The +parallel with that event is obvious and significant. The miracle which +led Israel into the wilderness is repeated as they pass from it. The +first stage of their deliverance and the second are begun with +analogous displays of divine power. The same arm which cleft the sea is +stretched out, after all sins, for the new generation, and 'is not +shortened that it cannot save.' God does not disdain to duplicate His +wonders, even for very unworthy servants. The unchanging, long- +suffering patience, and the unwearied strength to which all generations +in succession can turn with confidence, are wonderfully set forth by +these two miracles. And though we have passed into the higher stage, +where miracles have ceased, the principle which dictated the +parallelism still holds good, and we too can look back to all these +ancient wonders, and be sure that they are done over and over again +according to our needs. 'As we have heard, so have we seen,' might have +been Israel's song that day, as it may be ours every day. + +The beautiful application made of the parted waters of Jordan in +Christian literature, which sees in them the prophecy of conquered +death, is perhaps scarcely in accordance with truth, for the divided +Jordan was the introduction, not to peace, but to warfare. But it is +too deeply impressed on the heart to be lightly put aside, and we may +well allow faith and hope to discern in the stream, whose swollen +waters shrink backwards as soon as the ark is borne into their turbid +and swift current, an emblem of that dark flood that rolled between the +host of God and their home, and was dried up as soon as the pierced +foot of the Christ touched its cold waters. + +'What ailest thee, thou sea, that thou fleest; thou Jordan, that thou +turnest back?' Christ has gone up before us. He has shaken His hand +over the river, and caused men to go over dry shod. + + + + +STONES CRYING OUT + +'For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until +every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto +the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the +people hasted and passed over. 11. And it came to pass, when all the +people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, +and the priests, in the presence of the people. 12. And the children of +Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed +over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: 13. +About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto +battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14. On that day the Lord magnified +Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared +Moses, all the days of his life. 15. And the Lord spake unto Joshua, +saying, 16. Command the priests that bare the ark of the testimony, +that they come up out of Jordan. 17. Joshua therefore commanded the +priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. 18. And it came to pass, +when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were +come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet +were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned +unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. +19. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first +month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. 80. And +those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in +Gilgal. 21. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your +children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean +these stones? 22. Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel +came over this Jordan on dry land. 23. For the Lord your God dried up +the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the +Lord your God did to the Red sea, which He dried up from before us, +until we were gone over: 24. That all the people of the earth might +know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the +Lord your God for ever.'--JOSHUA iv. 10-24. + + +This chapter is divided into two sections. The first (from verses 1 to +14) has as its main subject the bringing up of the twelve memorial +stones from the bed of Jordan; the second (verse 15 to the end) gives +the conclusion of the whole incident. The plan of arrangement, already +pointed out in a former chapter, is very plain in this. Each section +has God's commands to Joshua, Joshua's to the people, and the execution +of these. To each is appended a summary, which anticipates the more +detailed particulars that follow. Our text begins in the middle of the +first section, but we must glance at the preceding verses. These tell +how, when the people were all across, Joshua, who had apparently +remained on the eastern bank with the twelve representatives of the +tribes, received God's command to tell these the purpose for which they +had been chosen, and to set them to execute it. This additional +instruction is the explanation of the apparent discrepancy between +Joshua iii. 12 and iv. 2. Verses 4-8 tell Joshua's communication of the +instructions to the men; verse 8 narrates the execution of them by each +man's wrenching up from the river's bed a great stone, with which he +toiled through the muddy ooze to the western shore, and thence over the +hot plain to Gilgal, where the host camped; verse 9 tells that twelve +other stones were set up where the priests had stood, and were visible +at some time after date, when it was written; but when that was, or +whether the verse is part of the original or a later note, we cannot +say. At any rate, there were two memorials, one on the bank, one in the +stream--'a grand jury of great stones,' as Thomas Fuller calls them. +There is no difficulty in supposing that the monument in the river was +firm enough to resist its current, and high enough to be visible either +above the surface or beneath the ordinarily shallow water. + +I. The first picture here brought before us is that of the motionless +ark in the midst of what had been Jordan. There is an obvious intention +to contrast the stillness of the priests, bearing it on their +shoulders, and standing rooted in that strange place all these long +hours, with the hurry around. 'The priests stood ... and the people +hasted.' However broad the front and swift the march, the crossing must +have taken many hours. The haste was not from fear, but eagerness. It +was 'an industrious speed and mannerly quickness, as not willing to +make God wait upon them, in continuing a miracle longer than necessity +did require.' When all were over, then came the twelve and Joshua, who +would spend some time in gathering the stones and rearing the memorial +in the river-bed. Through all the stir the ark was still. Over all the +march it watched. So long as one Israelite was in the channel it +remained, a silent presence, to ensure his safety. It let their rate of +speed determine the length of its standing there. It waited for the +slowest foot and the weariest laggard. God makes His 'very present +help' of the same length as our necessities, and lets us beat the time +to which He conforms. Not till the last loiterer has struggled to the +farther shore does He cease by His presence to keep His people safe on +the strange road which by His presence He has opened for them. + +The silent presence of the ark is enough to dam up the stream. There is +vehement action around, but the cause of it all is in absolute repose. +God moves all things, Himself unmoved. He 'worketh hitherto,' and no +intensity of energy breaks the depth of His perfect rest. His activity +implies no effort, and is followed by no exhaustion. The ark is still, +while it holds back a swollen river for hours. The centre of the +swiftest revolution is a point of rest. + +The form of the miracle was a condescension to weak faith, to which +help was ministered by giving sense something to grasp. It was easier +to believe that the torrent would not rush down on them when they could +look at the priests standing there motionless, with the visible symbol +of God's presence on their shoulders. The ark was no more the cause of +the miracle than were its carriers; but, just as Jesus helped one blind +man by laying moistened earth on his eyes, and another by sending him +to Siloam to wash, so God did here. Children learn best when they have +something to look at. Sight is sometimes the servant of faith. + +We need not dwell on the summary, beginning with verse 11, which +anticipates the subject of the next section, and adds that the fighting +men of the tribes who had already received their inheritance on the +east bank of Jordan, loyally kept their promise, and marched with their +brethren to the campaign. + +II. Verses 15-18 finish the story with the return of the waters to +their bed. The triple division appears again. First God commands +Joshua, who then transmits the command to the people, who, in turn, +then obey. And thus at each stage the divine causality, Joshua's +delegated but absolute authority, and the people's prompt obedience, +are signalised; and the whole incident, in all its parts, is set forth +as on the one hand a conspicuous instance of God's interposition, and, +on the other, of Israel's willing service. + +We can fancy how the people who had reached the western shore lined the +bank, gazing on the group in the channel, who still stood waiting God's +command to relieve them at their post. The word comes at last, and is +immediately obeyed. May we not learn the lesson to stand fixed and +patient wherever God sets us, as long as He does not call us thence? +God's priests should be like the legionary on guard in Pompeii, who +stuck to his post while the ashes were falling thick, and was smothered +by them, rather than leave his charge without his commander's orders. +One graphic word pictures the priests lifting, or, as it might be +translated, 'plucking,' the soles of their feet from the slimy bottom +into which they had settled down by reason of long standing still. They +reach the bank, marching as steadily with their sacred burden as might +be over so rough and slippery a road. The first to enter were the last +to leave the river's bed. God's ark 'goes before us,' and 'is our +rearward.' He besets us behind and before, and all dangerous service is +safe if begun and ended in Him. The one point made prominent is the +instantaneous rush back of the impatient torrent as soon as the curb +was taken off. Like some horse rejoicing to be free, the tawny flood +pours down, and soon everything looks 'as aforetime,' except for the +new rock, piled by human hands, round which the waters chafed. The +dullest would understand what had wrought the miracle when they saw the +immediate consequence of the ark's leaving its place. Cause and effect +seldom come thus close together in God's dealings; but sometimes He +lets us see them as near each other as the lightning and the thunder, +that we may learn to trace them in faith, when centuries part them. How +the people would gaze as the hurrying stream covered up their path, and +would look across to the further shore, almost doubting if they had +really stood there that morning I They were indeed 'Hebrews'--men from +the other side-now, and would set themselves to the dangerous task +before them with courage. 'Well begun is half done'; and God would not +divide the river for them to thrust them into a tiger's den, where they +would be torn to pieces. Retreat was impossible now. A new page in +their history was turned. The desert was as unreachable as Egypt, The +passage of the Jordan rounded off the epoch which the passage of the +Bed Sea introduced, and began a new era. + +That parallelism of the two crossings is suggested by the notice of +date in verse 19. 'The tenth day of the first month' was just forty +years to a day since the first Paschal lamb had been chosen, and four +days short of the Passover, which was solemnised at Gilgal (Joshua v. +10) where they encamped that night. It was a short march from the point +of crossing, and a still shorter from Jericho. It would have been easy +to fall upon the invaders as they straggled across the river, but no +attempt was made to dispute the passage, though, no doubt, many a keen +pair of eyes watched it from the neighbouring hills. In the beginning +of the next chapter we are told why there was this singular supineness. +'Their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more,' or, in +more modern language, panic laid hold of the enemy, and they could not +pluck up courage to oppose the advance of Israel. If we add this result +to those mentioned in chapter in., we find sufficient motive for the +miracle to take it out of the class of purposeless, legendary wonders. +Given the importance of Israel as the depositaries of revelation, there +is nothing unreasonable in a miracle which so powerfully contributed to +their conquest of Canaan, and we have yet to learn that there is +anything unreasonable in the belief that they were the depositaries of +revelation. The fundamental postulate of the Old Testament is a +supernatural revelation, and that opens the door for any miracle +needful for its accomplishment. It is folly to seek to conciliate by +minimising the miraculous element. However much may be thrown out to +the wolves, they will not cease to pursue and show their teeth. We +should be very slow to pronounce on what is worthy of God; but any man +who believes in a divine revelation, given to the world through Israel, +may well believe in such a miracle as this at such a moment of their +history. + +III. The memorial stones (verses 20-24). Gilgal, the first encampment, +lay defenceless in the open plain, and the first thing to be done would +be to throw up some earthwork round the camp. It seems to have been the +resting-place of the ark and probably of the non-combatants, during the +conquest, and to have derived thence a sacredness which long clung to +it, and finally led, singularly enough, to its becoming a centre of +idolatrous worship. The rude circle of unhewn stones without +inscription was, no doubt, exactly like the many prehistoric monuments +found all over the world, which forgotten races have raised to keep in +everlasting remembrance forgotten fights and heroes. It was a +comparatively small thing; for each stone was but a load for one man, +and it would seem mean enough by the side of Stonehenge or Carnac, just +as Israel's history is on a small scale, as compared with the world- +embracing empires of old. Size is not greatness; and Joshua's little +circle told a more wonderful story than its taller kindred, or Egyptian +obelisks or colossi. + +These grey stones preached at once the duty of remembering, and the +danger of forgetting, the past mercies of God. When they were reared, +they would seem needless; but the deepest impressions get filled up by +degrees, as the river of time deposits its sands on them. We do not +forget pain so quickly as joy, and most men have a longer and keener +remembrance of their injurers than of their benefactors, human or +divine. The stones were set up because Israel remembered, but also lest +Israel should forget. We often think of the Jews as monsters of +ingratitude; but we should more truly learn the lesson of their +history, if we regarded them as fair, average men, and asked ourselves +whether our recollection of God's goodness to us is much more vivid +than theirs. Unless we make distinct and frequent efforts to recall, we +shall certainly forget 'all His benefits.' The cultivation of thankful +remembrance is a very large part of practical religion; and it is not +by accident that the Psalmist puts it in the middle, between hope and +obedience, when he says 'that they might set their hope in God, and +not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments' (Psalm lxxviii.7). + +The memorial stones further proclaimed the duty of parental instruction +in God's mercies. They speak of a time when tradition was the vehicle +of history; when books were rare, and monuments were relied upon to +awaken curiosity which a father's words would satisfy. Notwithstanding +all differences in means of obtaining knowledge, the old law remains in +full force, that the parent is the natural and most powerful instructor +in the ways of God. The Jewish father was not to send his child to some +Levite or other to get his question answered, but was to answer it +himself. I am afraid that a good many English parents, who call +themselves Christians, are too apt to say, 'Ask your Sunday-school +teacher,' when such questions are put to them. The decay of parental +religious teaching is working enormous mischief in Christian +households; and the happiest results would follow if Joshua's homely +advice were attended to, '_Ye_ shall let your children know.' + +The same principle which led to the erection of this simple monument +reaches its highest and sacredest instance in the institution of the +Lord's Supper, in which Jesus, with wonderful lowliness, condescends to +avail Himself of material symbols in order to secure a firmer place in +treacherous memories. He might well have expected that such stupendous +love could never be forgotten; but He 'knoweth our frame,' and trusts +some share in keeping His death vividly in the hearts of His people to +the humble ministry of bread and wine, Strange that we should need to +be reminded of the death which it is life to remember! Blessed that, +needing it, we have the need so tenderly met, and that He does not +disdain to accept loving memories which slumber till stirred by such +poor reminders of His unspeakable love! + + + + +THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST + +And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. +JOSHUA v. 14. + + +The army of Israel was just beginning a hard conflict under an untried +leader. Behind them the Jordan barred their retreat, in front of them +Jericho forbade their advance. Most of them had never seen a fortified +city, and had no experience nor engines for a siege. So we may well +suppose that many doubts and fears shook the courage of the host, as it +drew around the doomed city. Their chief had his own heavy burden. He +seems to have gone apart to meditate on what his next step was to be. +Absorbed in thought, he lifts up his eyes mechanically, as brooding men +will, not expecting to see anything, and is startled by the silent +figure of 'a man with a sword drawn' in his hand, close beside him. +There is nothing supernatural in his appearance; and the immediate +thought of the leader is, 'Is this one of the enemy that has stolen +upon my solitude?' So, promptly and boldly, he strides up to him with +the quick challenge: 'Whose side are you on? Are you one of us, or from +the enemy's camp?' And then the silent lips open. 'Upon neither the one +nor the other. I am not on your side, you are on mine, for as Captain +of the Lord's host, am I come up.' And then Joshua falls on his face, +recognises his Commander-in-Chief, owns himself a subordinate, and asks +for orders. 'What saith my Lord unto his servant?' + +Now let us try to gather the meaning and the lessons of this striking +incident. + +I. I see in it a transient revelation of an eternal truth. + +I believe, as the vast majority of careful students of the course of +Old Testament revelation and its relation to the New Testament +completion believe, that we have here not a record of the appearance of +a created superhuman person, but that of a preliminary manifestation of +the Eternal Word of God, who, in the fulness of time, 'became flesh and +dwelt among us.' + +You will observe that there run throughout the whole of the Old +Testament notices of the occasional manifestation of a mysterious +person who is named '_the_ Angel,' 'the Angel of the Lord.' For +instance, in the great scene in the wilderness, where the bush burned +and was not consumed, he who appeared is named 'the Angel of the Lord'; +and his lips declare 'I am that I am.' In like manner, soon after, the +divine voice speaks to Moses of 'the Angel in whom is My name.' + +When Balaam had his path blocked amongst the vineyards, it was a +_replica_ of the figure of my text that stayed his way, a man with +a drawn sword in his hand, who spoke in autocratic and divine fashion. +When the parents of Samson were apprised of the coming birth of the +hero, it was 'the Angel of the Lord' that appeared to them, accepted +their sacrifice, declared the divine will, and disappeared in a flame +of fire from the altar. A psalm speaks of 'the Angel of the Lord' as +encamping round about them that fear him, and delivering them. Isaiah +tells us of the 'Angel of his face,' who was 'afflicted in all Israel's +afflictions, and saved them.' And the last prophetic utterance of the +Old Testament is most distinct and remarkable in its strange +identification and separation of Jehovah and the Angel, when it says, +'the Lord shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Angel of the +Covenant.' Now, if we put all these passages--and they are but select +instances--if we put all these passages together, I think we cannot +help seeing that there runs, as I said, throughout the whole of the Old +Testament a singular strain of revelation in regard to a Person who, in +a remarkable manner, is distinguished from the created hosts of angel +beings, and also is distinguished from, and yet in name, attributes, +and worship all but identified with, the Lord Himself. + +If we turn to the narrative before us, we find there similar phenomena +marked out. For this mysterious 'man with the sword drawn' in his hand, +quotes the very words which were spoken at the bush, when he says, +'Loose thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest +is holy.' And by fair implication, He would have us to identify the +persons in these two great theophanies. He ascribes to Himself, in the +further conversation in the next chapter, directly divine attributes, +and is named by the sacred name; 'The Lord said unto Joshua, see, I +have given into thy hand Jericho and its king.' + +If we turn to the New Testament, we find that there under another image +the same strain of thought is presented. The Word of God, who from +everlasting 'was with God, and was God,' is represented as being the +Agent of Creation, the Source of all human illumination, the Director +of Providence, the Lord of the Universe. 'By him were all things, and +in him all things consists.' So, surely, these two halves make a whole; +and the Angel of the Lord, separate and yet so strangely identified +with Jehovah, who at the crises of the nation's history, and stages of +the development of the process of Revelation, is manifested, and the +Eternal Word of God, whom the New Testament reveals to us, are one and +the same. + +This truth was transiently manifested in our text. The vision passed, +the ground that was hallowed by His foot is undistinguished now in the +sweltering plain round the mound that once was Jericho. But the fact +remains, the humanity, that was only in appearance, and for a few +minutes, assumed then, has now been taken up into everlasting union +with the divine nature, and a Man reigns on the Throne, and is +Commander of all who battle for the truth and the right. The eternal +order of the universe is before us here. + +It only remains to say a word in reference to the sweep of the command +which our vision assigns to the Angel of the Lord. 'Captain of the +Lord's host' means a great deal more than the true General of Israel's +little army. It does mean that, or the words and the vision would cease +to have relevance and bearing on the moment's circumstances and need. +But it includes also, as the usage of Scripture would sufficiently +show, if it were needful to adduce instances of it, all the ordered +ranks of loftier intelligent beings, and all the powers and forces of +the universe. These are conceived of as an embattled host, comparable +to an army in the strictness of their discipline and their obedience to +a single will. It is the modern thought that the universe is a Cosmos +and not a Chaos, an ordered unit, with the addition of the truth beyond +the reach and range of science, that its unity is the expression of a +personal will. It is the same thought which the centurion had, to +Christ's wonder, when he compared his own power as an officer in a +legion, where his will was implicitly obeyed, to the power of Christ +over diseases and sorrows and miseries and death, and recognised that +all these were His servants, to whom, if His autocratic lips chose to +say 'Go,' they went, and if He said, 'Do this,' they did it. + +So the Lord of the universe and its ordered ranks is Jesus Christ. That +is the truth which was flashed from the unknown, like a vanishing +meteor in the midnight, before the face of Joshua, and which stands +like the noonday sun, unsetting and irradiating for us who live under +the Gospel. + +II. I see here the Leader of all the warfare against the world's evil. + +'The Captain of the Lord's host.' He Himself takes part in the fight. +He is not like a general who, on some safe knoll behind the army, sends +his soldiers to death, and keeps his own skin whole. But He _has_ +fought, and He _is_ fighting. Do you remember that wonderful +picture in two halves, at the end of one of the Gospels, 'the Lord went +up into Heaven and sat at the right hand of God, ... they went forth +everywhere preaching the Word'? Strange contrast between the repose of +the seated Christ and the toils of His peripatetic servants! Yes, +strange contrast; but the next words harmonise the two halves of it; +'the Lord also working with them, and confirming the word with signs +following.' The Leader does not so rest as that He does not fight; and +the servants do not need so to fight, as that they cannot rest. Thus +the old legends of many a land and tongue have a glorious truth in them +to the eye of faith, and at the head of all the armies that are +charging against any form of the world's misery and sin, there moves +the form of the Son of Man, whose aid we have to invoke, even from His +crowned repose at the right hand of God. 'Gird thy sword upon Thy +thigh, O Most Mighty, and in Thy majesty ride forth prosperously, and +Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things.' + +If this, then, be for us, as truly as for Joshua and his host, a +revelation of who is our true leader, surely all of us in our various +degrees, and especially any of us who have any 'Quixotic crusade' for +the world's good on our consciences and on our hands, may take the +lessons and the encouragements that are here. Own your Leader; that is +one plain duty. And recognise this fact, that by no other power than by +His, and with no other weapons than those which He puts into our hands, +in His Cross and meekness, can a world's evils be overcome, and the +victory be won for the right and the truth. I have no faith in crusades +which are not under the Captain of our salvation. And I would that the +earnest men, and there are many of them, the laborious and the self- +sacrificing men in many departments of philanthropy and benevolence and +social reformation--who labour unaware of who is their Leader, and not +dependent upon His help, nor trusting in His strength--would take to +heart this vision of my text, and see beside them the 'man with the +drawn sword in his hand,' the Christ with the 'sharp two-edged sword +going out of his mouth,' by whom, and by whom alone, the world's evil +can be overcome and slain. + +Own your General; submit to His authority; pick the weapons that He can +bless; trust absolutely in His help. We _may_ have, we _shall_ +have, in all enterprises for God and man that are worth doing, 'need +of patience,' just as the army of Israel had to parade for six weary days +round Jericho blowing their useless trumpets, whilst the impregnable walls +stood firm, and the defenders flouted and jeered their aimless procession. +But the seventh day will come, and at the trumpet blast down will go the +loftiest ramparts of the cities that are 'walled up to heaven' with a rush +and a crash, and through the dust and over the ruined rubbish Christ's +soldiers will march and take possession. So trust in your Leader, and be +sure of the victory, and have patience and keep on at your work. + +Do not make Joshua's mistake. 'Art Thou for us?'--'Nay! Thou art for +_me._' That is a very different thing. We have the right to be +sure that God is on our side, when we have made sure that we are on +God's. So take care of self-will and self-regard, and human passions, +and all the other parasitical insects that creep round philanthropic +religious work, lest they spoil your service. There is a great deal +that calls itself after Jehu's fashion, 'My zeal for the Lord,' which +is nothing better than zeal for my own notions and their preponderance. +Therefore we must strip ourselves of all that, and not fancy that the +cause is ours, and then graciously admit Christ to help us, but +recognise that it is _His_, and lowly submit ourselves to His +direction, and what we do, do, and when we fight, fight, in His name +and for His sake. + +III. Here is the Ally in all our warfare with ourselves. + +That is the worst fight. Far worse than all these Hittites and Hivites, +and the other tribes with their barbarous names, far worse than all +external foes, are the foes that each man carries about in his own +heart. In that slow hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle I do not +believe that there is any conquering power available for a man that can +for a moment be compared with the power that comes through submission +to Christ's command and acceptance of Christ's help. He has fought +every foot of the ground before us. We have to 'run the race'--to take +another metaphor--'that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,' the +great Leader, and in His own self the Perfecter of the faith which +conquers. In Him, His example, the actual communication of His divine +Spirit, and in the motives for brave and persistent conflict which flow +from His Cross and Passion, we shall find that which alone will make us +the victors in this internecine warfare. There can be no better +directory given to any man than to tread in Christ's footsteps, and +learn how to fight, from Him who in the wilderness repelled the triple +assault with the single 'It is written'; thus recognising the word and +will of God as the only directory and defence. + +Thus, brethren, if we humbly take service in His ranks, and ask Him to +show us where our foes within are, and to give us the grace to grapple +with them, and cast them out, anything is possible rather than ultimate +defeat, and however long and sore the struggle may be, its length and +its severity are precious parts of the discipline that makes us strong, +and we shall at last be more than conquerors through Him that loveth +us. + +IV. Lastly, I see here the Power which it is madness to resist. + +Think of this vision. Think of the deep truths, partially shadowed and +symbolised by it. Think of Christ, what He is, and what resources He +has at His back, of what are His claims for our service, and our loyal, +militant obedience. Think of the certain victory of all who follow Him +amongst 'the armies of Heaven, clad in fine linen, clean and white.' +Think of the crown and the throne for him that 'overcomes.' + +Remember the destructive powers that sleep in Him: the 'drawn sword in +His hand,' the 'two-edged sword out of His mouth' the 'wrath of the +Lamb.' Think of the ultimate certain defeat of all antagonisms; of that +last campaign when He goes forth with the 'name written on His vesture +and on His thigh "King of kings and Lord of lords."' Think of how He +'strikes through kings in the day of His wrath, and fills the place +with the bodies of the dead'; and how His 'enemies become His +footstool.' + +Ponder His own solemn word, 'He that is not with Me, is against Me.' +There is no neutrality in this warfare. Either we are for Him or we are +for His adversary. 'Under which King? speak or die!' As sensible men, +not indifferent to your highest and lasting well-being, ask yourselves, +'Can I, with my ten thousand, meet Him with His twenty thousand?' Put +yourselves under His orders, and He will be on your side. He will teach +your hands to war, and your fingers to fight; will cover your heads in +the day of battle, and bring you at last, palm-bearing and laurel- +crowned, to that blissful state where there will still be service, and +He still be the 'Captain of the Lord's host,' but where 'swords will be +beaten into ploughshares' and the victors shall need to 'learn war no +more.' + + + + +THE SIEGE OF JERICHO + +'And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor +make any noise with your voice, ... until the day I bid you shout; then +shall ye shout. 11. So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going +about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.'-- +JOSHUA vi.10, 11. + +The cheerful uniform obedience of Israel to Joshua stands in very +remarkable contrast with their perpetual murmurings and rebellions +under Moses. Many reasons probably concurred in bringing about this +change of tone. For one thing the long period of suspense was over; and +to average sense-bound people there is no greater trial of faith and +submission than waiting, inactive, for something that is to come. Now +they are face to face with their enemies, and it is a great deal easier +to fight than to expect; and their courage mounts higher as dangers +come nearer. Then there were great miracles which left their impression +upon the people, such as the passage of the Jordan, and so on. + +So that the Epistle to the Hebrews is right when it says, 'By faith the +walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days.' +And that faith was as manifest in the six days' march round the city, +as on the seventh day of victorious entrance. For, if you will read the +narrative carefully, you will see that it says that the Israelites were +not told what was to be the end of that apparently useless and aimless +promenade. It was only on the morning of the day of the miracle that it +was announced. So there are two stages in this instance of faith. There +is the protracted trial of it, in doing an apparently useless thing; +and there is the victory, which explains and vindicates it. Let us look +at these two points now. + +I. Consider that strange protracted trial of faith. + +The command comes to the people, through Joshua's lips, unaccompanied +by any explanation or reasons. If Moses had called for a like obedience +from the people in their wilderness mood, there would have been no end +of grumbling. But whatever some of them may have thought, there is +nothing recorded now but prompt submission. Notice, too, the order of +the procession. First come the armed men, then seven white-robed +priests, blowing, probably, discordant music upon their ram's horn +trumpets; then the Ark, the symbol and token of God's presence; and +then the rereward. So the _Ark_ is the centre; and it is not only +Israel that is marching round the city, but rather it is God who is +circling the walls. Very impressive would be the grim silence of it +all. Tramp, tramp, tramp, round and round, six days on end, without a +word spoken (though no doubt taunts in plenty were being showered down +from the walls), they marched, and went back to the camp, and subsided +into inactivity for another four-and-twenty hours, until they 'turned +out' for the procession once more. + +Now, what did all that mean? The blast of the trumpet was, in the +Jewish feasts, the solemn proclamation of the presence of God. And +hence the purpose of that singular march circumambulating Jericho was +to declare 'Here is the Lord of the whole earth, weaving His invisible +cordon and network around the doomed city.' In fact the meaning of the +procession, emphasised by the silence of the soldiers, was that God +Himself was saying, in the long-drawn blasts of the priestly trumpet, +'Lift up your heads, O ye gates! even lift them up, ye everlasting +doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.' Now, whatever Jericho and +its people thought about that, Israel, according to the commentary of +the New Testament, had to some extent, at all events, learnt the +lesson, and knew, of course very rudimentarily and with a great deal of +mere human passion mingled with it, but still knew, that this was God's +summons, and the manifestation of God's presence. And so round the city +they went, and day by day they did the thing in which their faith +apprehended its true meaning, and which, by reason of their faith, they +were willing to do. Let us take some lessons from that. + +Here is a confidence in the divine presence, manifested by +unquestioning obedience to a divine command. + + 'Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why.' + +Joshua had spoken; God had spoken through him. And so here goes! up +with the Ark and the trumpets, and out on to the hot sand for the +march! It would have been a great deal easier to have stopped in the +tents. It was disheartening work marching round thus. The sceptical +spirit in the host--the folk of whom there are many great-grandchildren +living to-day, who always have objections to urge when disagreeable +duties are crammed up against their faces--would have enough to say on +that occasion, but the bulk of the people were true, and obeyed. Now, +we do not need to put out the eyes of our understanding in order to +practise the obedience of faith. And we have to exercise common-sense +about the things that seem to us to be duties. + +But this is plain, that if once we see a thing to be, in Christian +language, the will of our Father in heaven, then everything is settled; +and there is only one course for us, and that is, unquestioning +submission, active submission, or, what is as hard, passive submission. + +Then here again is faith manifesting itself by an obedience which was +altogether ignorant of what was coming. I think that is quite plain in +the story, if you will read it carefully, though I think that it is not +quite what people generally understand as its meaning. But it makes the +incident more in accordance with God's uniform way of dealing with us +that the host should be told on the morning of the first day of the +week that they were to march round the city, and told the same on the +second day, and on the third the same, and so on until the sixth; and +that not until the morning of the seventh, were they told what was to +be the end of it all. That is the way in which God generally deals with +us. In the passage of the Jordan, too, you will find, if you will look +at the narrative carefully, that although Joshua was told what was +coming, the people were not told till the morning of the day, when the +priests' feet were dipped in the brink of the water. We, too, have to +do our day's march, knowing very little about tomorrow; and we have to +carry on all through life 'doing the duty that lies nearest us,' +entirely ignorant of the strange issues to which it may conduct. Life +is like a voyage down some winding stream, shut in by hills, sometimes +sunny and vine-clad, like the Rhine, sometimes grim and black, like an +American canon. As the traveller looks ahead he wonders how the stream +will find a passage beyond the next bend; and as he looks back, he +cannot trace the course by which he has come. It is only when he rounds +the last shoulder that he sees a narrow opening flashing in the +sunshine, and making a way for his keel. So, seeing that we know +nothing about the issues, let us make sure of the motives; and seeing +that we do not know what to-morrow may bring forth, nor even what the +next moment may bring, let us see that we fill the present instant as +full as it will hold with active obedience to God, based upon simple +faith in Him. He does not open His whole hand at once; He opens a +finger at a time, as you do sometimes with your children when you are +trying to coax them to take something out of the palm. He gives us +enough light for the moment, He says, 'March round Jericho; and be sure +that I mean something. What I do mean I will tell you some day.' And so +we have to put all into His hands. + +Then here, again, is faith manifesting itself by persistency. A week +was not long, but it was a long while during which to do that one +apparently useless thing and nothing else. It would take about an hour +or so to march round the city, and there were twenty-three hours of +idleness. Little progress in reducing Jericho was made by the progress +round it, and it must have got rather wearisome about the sixth day. +Familiarity would breed monotony, but notwithstanding the deadly +influences of habit, the obedient host turned out for their daily +round. 'Let us not be weary in well-doing,' for there is a time for +everything. There is a time for sowing and for reaping, and in the +season of the reaping 'we shall reap, if we faint not.' Dear brethren! +we all get weary of our work. Custom presses upon us, 'with a weight +heavy as frost, and deep almost as life.' It is easy to do things with +a spurt, but it is the keeping on at the monotonous, trivial, and +sometimes unintelligible duties that is the test of a man's grit, and +of his goodness too. So, although it is a very, very threadbare lesson +--one that you may think it was not worth while for me to bring you all +here to receive--I am sure that there are few things needed more by us +all, and especially by those of us who are on the wrong side of middle +life, as people call it--though I think it is the right side in many +respects--than that old familiar lesson. Keep on as you have begun, and +for the six weary days turn out, however hot the sun, however +comfortable the carpets in the tent, however burning the sand, however +wearisome and flat it may seem to be perpetually tramping round the +same walls of the same old city; keep on, for in due season the trumpet +will sound and the walls will fall. + +II. So that brings me to the second stage--viz., the sudden victory +which vindicates and explains the protracted trial of faith. + +I do not need to tell the story of how, on the seventh day, the host +encompassed the city seven times, and at last they were allowed to +break the long silence with a shout. You will observe the prominence +given to the sacred seven, both in the number of days, of circuits +made, and the number of the priests' trumpets. Probably the last day +was a Sabbath, for there must have been one somewhere in the week, and +it is improbable that it was one of the undistinguished days. That was +a shout, we may be sure, by which the week's silence was avenged, and +all the repressed emotions gained utterance at last. The fierce yell +from many throats, which startled the wild creatures in the hills +behind Jericho, blended discordantly with the trumpets' clang which +proclaimed a present God; and at His summons the fortifications toppled +into hideous ruin, and over the fallen stones the men of Israel +clambered, each soldier, in all that terrible circle of avengers that +surrounded the doomed city, marching straight forward, and so all +converging on the centre. + +Now, we can discover good reasons for this first incident in the +campaign being marked by miracle. The fact that it was the first is a +reason. It is a law of God's progressive revelation that each new epoch +is inaugurated by miraculous works which do not continue throughout its +course. For instance, it is observable that, in the _Acts of the +Apostles,_ the first example of each class of incidents recorded +there, such as the first preaching, the first persecution, the first +martyrdom, the first expansion of the Gospel beyond Jews, its first +entrance into Europe, has usually the stamp of miracle impressed on it, +and is narrated at great length, while subsequent events of the same +class have neither of those marks of distinction. Take, for example, +the account of Stephen, the first martyr. He saw 'the heavens opened' +and the Son of Man 'standing at the right hand of God.' We do not read +that the heavens opened when Herod struck off the head of James with +the sword. But was Jesus any the less near to help His servant? +Certainly not. + +In like manner it was fitting that the first time that Israel crossed +swords with these deadly and dreaded enemies should be marked by a +miraculous intervention to hearten God's warriors. But let us take care +that we understand the teaching of any miracle. Surely it does not +secularise and degrade the other incidents of a similar sort in which +no miracle was experienced. The very opposite lesson is the true one to +draw from a miracle. In its form it is extraordinary, and presents +God's direct action on men or on nature, so obviously that all eyes can +see it. But the conclusion to be drawn is not that God acts only in a +supernatural' manner, but that He is acting as really, though in a less +obvious fashion, in the 'natural' order. In these turning-points, the +inauguration of new stages in revelation or history, the cause which +always produces all nearer effects and the ultimate effects, which are +usually separated or united (as one may choose to regard it) by many +intervening links, are brought together. But the originating power +works as truly when it is transmitted through these many links as when +it dispenses with them. Miracle shows us in abbreviated fashion, and +therefore conspicuously, the divine will acting directly, that we may +see it working when it acts indirectly. In miracle God makes bare His +arm,' that we may be sure of its operation when it is draped and +partially hid, as by a vesture, by second causes. + +We are not to argue that, because there is no miracle, God is not +present or active. He was as truly with Israel when there was no Ark +present, and no blast of the trumpet heard. He was as truly with Israel +when they fought apparently unhelped, as He was when Jericho fell. The +teaching of all the miracles in the Old and the New Testaments is that +the order of the universe is maintained by the continual action of the +will of God on men and things. So this story is a transient revelation +of an eternal fact. God is as much with you and me in our fights as He +was with the Israelites when they marched round Jericho, and as +certainly will He help. If by faith we endure the days of often blind +obedience, we shall share the rapture of the sudden victory. + +Now, I have said that the last day of this incident was probably a +Sabbath day. Does not that suggest the thought that we may take this +story as a prophetic symbol? There is for us a week of work, and a +seventh day of victory, when we shall enter, not into the city of +confusion which has come to nought, but into the city which 'hath the +foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' The old fathers of the +Christian Church were not far wrong, when they saw in this story a type +of the final coming of the Lord. Did you ever notice how St. Paul, in +writing to the Thessalonians about that coming, seems to have his mind +turned back to the incident before us? Remember that in this incident +the two things which signalised the fall of the city were the trumpet +and the shout. What does Paul say? 'The Lord Himself shall descend from +heaven with a _shout_, with the voice of the archangel, and with +the _trump_ of God.' Jericho over again! And then, 'Babylon is +fallen, is fallen!' 'And I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of +heaven, like a bride adorned for her husband.' + + + + +RAHAB + +'And Joanna paved Rahab the harlot alive... and she dwelleth in Israel +even unto this day.'--JOSHUA vi. 25. + + +This story comes in like an oasis in these terrible narratives of +Canaanite extermination. There is much about it that is beautiful and +striking, but the main thing is that it teaches the universality of +God's mercy, and the great truth that trust in Him unites to Him and +brings deliverance, how black soever may have been the previous life. + +I need not tell over again the story, told with such inimitable +picturesqueness here: how the two spies, swimming the Jordan in flood, +set out on their dangerous mission and found themselves in the house of +Rahab, a harlot; how the king sent to capture them, how she hid them +among the flax-stalks bleaching on the flat roof, confessed faith in +Israel's God and lied steadfastly to save them, how they escaped to the +Quarantania hills, how she 'perished not' in the capture, entered into +the community of Israel, was married, and took her place--hers!--in the +line of David's and Christ's ancestresses. + +The point of interest is her being, notwithstanding her previous +position and history, one of the few instances in which heathen were +brought into Israel. The _Epistle to the Hebrews_ and _James_ +both refer to her. We now consider her story as embodying for us some +important truths about faith in its nature, its origin, its power. + +I. Faith in its constant essence and its varying objects. + +Her creed was very short and simple. She abjured idols, and believed +that Jehovah was the one God. She knew nothing of even the Mosaic +revelation, nothing of its moral law or of its sacrifices. And yet the +_Epistle to the Hebrews_ has no scruple in ascribing faith to her. +The object of that Epistle is to show that Christianity is Judaism +perfected. It labours to establish that objectively there has been +advance, not contradiction, and that subjectively there is absolute +identity. It has always been faith that has bound men to God. That +faith may co-exist with very different degrees of illumination. Not the +creed, but the trust, is the all-important matter. This applies to all +pre-Christian times and to all heathen lands. _Our_ faith has a +fuller gospel to lay hold of. Do not neglect it. + +Beware lest people with less light and more love get in before you, +'who shall come from the east and the west.' + +II. Faith in its origin in fear. + +There are many roads to faith, and it matters little which we take, so +long as we get to the goal. This is one, and some people seem to think +that it is a very low and unworthy one, and one which we should never +urge upon men. But there are a side of the divine nature and a mode of +the divine government which properly evoke fear. + +God's moral government, His justice and retribution, are facts. + +Fear is an inevitable and natural consequence of feeling that His +justice is antagonistic to us. The work of conscience is precisely to +create such fear. Not to feel it is to fall below manhood or to be +hardened by sin. + +That fear is meant to lead us to God and love. Rahab fled to God. Peter +'girt his fisher's coat to him,' and lost his fear in the sunshine of +Christ's face, as a rainbow trembles out of a thunder-cloud when +touched by sunbeams. + +We have all grounds enough to _fear_. + +Urge these as a reason for _trust_. + +III. Faith in its relation to the previous life. + +It is a strange instance of blindness that attempts have been made to +soften down the Bible's plain speaking about Rahab's character. + +In her story we have an anticipation of New Testament teaching. + +The 'woman that was a sinner.' + +Mary Magdalene. + +'Then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him.' + +She shows us that there is no hopeless guilt. None is so in regard to +the effects of sin on a soul. There is no heart so indurated as that +its capacity for being stirred by the divine message is killed. + +There is none hopeless in regard to God. + +His love embraces all, however bad. The bond which unites to Him is not +blamelessness of life but simple trust. + +The grossest vice is not so thorough a barrier as self-satisfied self- +righteousness. + +A thin slice of crystal will bar the entrance of air more effectually +than many folds of stuff. + +IV. Faith in its practical effects. + +Rahab's story shows how living faith, like a living stream, will cut a +channel for itself, and must needs flow out into the life. + +Hence James is right in using her as an example of how 'we are +justified by works and not by faith only,' and the author of the +_Epistle to the Hebrews_ is equally right in enrolling her in his +great muster-roll of heroes and heroines of faith, and asserting that +'by faith' she 'perished not among them who believed not.' The one +writer fastens on a later stage in her experience than does the other. +James points to the rich fruit, the Epistle to the Hebrews goes deeper +and lays bare the root from which the life rose to the clusters. + +The faith that saves is not a barren intellectual process, nor an idle +trust in Christ's salvation, but a practical power. If genuine it +_will_ mould and impel the life. + +So Rahab's faith led her, as ours, if real, will lead us, to break with +old habits and associations contrary to itself. She ceased to be 'Rahab +the harlot,' she forsook 'her own people and her father's house.' But +her conquest of her old self was gradual. A lie was a strange kind of +first-fruits of faith. Its true fruit takes time to flower and swell +and come to ripeness and sweetness. + +So we should not expect old heads on young shoulders, nor wonder if +people, lifted from the dunghills of the world, have some stench and +rags of their old vices hanging about them still. That thought should +moderate our expectations of the characters of converts from +heathenism, or from the degraded classes at home. And it should be +present to ourselves, when we find in ourselves sad recurrences of +faults and sins that we know should have been cast out, and that we +hoped had been so. + +This thought enhances our wondering gratitude for the divine long- +suffering which bears with our slow progress. Our great Teacher never +loses patience with His dull scholars. + +V. Faith as the means of deliverance and safety. + +From external evils it delivers us or not, as God may will. James was +no less dear, and no less faithful, than John, though he was early +'slain with the sword,' and his brother died in extreme old age in +Ephesus. Paul looked forward to being 'delivered from every evil work,' +though he knew that the time of his being 'offered' was at hand, +because the deliverance that he looked for was his being 'saved +_into_ His heavenly kingdom.' + +That true deliverance is infallibly ours, if by faith we have made the +Deliverer ours. + +There is a more terrible fall of a worse city than Jericho, in that day +when 'the city of the terrible ones shall be laid low,' and _our_ +Joshua brings it 'to the ground, even to the dust.' 'In that same day +shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city, +salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks,' and into that +eternal home He will certainly lead all who are joined to Him, and +separated from their foul old selves, and from 'the city of +destruction,' by faith in Him. + + + + +ACHAN'S SIN, ISRAEL'S DEFEAT + +'But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: +for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the +tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord +was kindled against the children of Israel. 2. And Joshua sent men from +Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-ei, +and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men +went up and viewed Ai. 3. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto +him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand +men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; +for they are but few. 4. So there went up thither of the people about +three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5. And the men +of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from +before the Irate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down; +wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. 6. And +Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the +ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and +put dust upon their heads. 7. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, +wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver +us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had +been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8. O Lord, what shall +I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! 9. For the +Canaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and +shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what +wilt Thou do unto Thy great name? 10. And the Lord said unto Joshua, +Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11. Israel hath +sinned, and they have also trangressed My covenant which I commanded +them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also +stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own +stuff. 12. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before +their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because +they were accursed; neither will I be with you any more, except ye +destroy the accursed from among you.'--JOSHUA vii. 1-12. + + +This passage naturally parts itself into--1. The hidden sin (v. 1); 2. +The repulse by which it is punished (vs. 2-5); 3. The prayer of +remonstrance (vs. 6-9); and 4. The answer revealing the cause (vs. 10- +12). We may briefly note the salient points in these four divisions, +and then consider the general lessons of the whole. + +I. Observe, then, that the sin is laid at the doors of the whole +nation, while yet it was the secret act of one man. That Is a strange +'for' in verse 1--the people did it; 'for' Achan did it. Observe, too, +with what bitter particularity his descent is counted back through +three generations, as if to diffuse the shame and guilt over a wide +area, and to blacken the ancestors of the culprit. Note also the +description of the sin. Its details are not given, but its inmost +nature is. The specification of the 'Babylonish garment,' the 'shekels +of silver,' and the 'wedge of gold,' is reserved for the sinner's own +confession; but the blackness of the deed is set forth in its principle +in verse 1. It was a 'breach of trust,' for so the phrase 'committed a +trespass' might be rendered. The expression is frequent in the +Pentateuch to describe Israel's treacherous departure from God, and has +this full meaning here. The sphere in which Achan's treason was +evidenced was 'in the devoted thing.' The spoil of Jericho was set +aside for Jehovah, and to appropriate any part of it was sacrilege. His +sin, then, was double, being at once covetousness and robbing God. +Achan, at the beginning of Israel's warfare for Canaan, and Ananias, at +the beginning of the Church's conquest of the world, are brothers alike +in guilt and in doom. Note the wide sweep of 'the anger of the Lord,' +involving in its range not only the one transgressor, but the whole +people. + +II. All unconscious of the sin, and flushed with victory, Joshua let no +grass grow under his feet, but was prepared to push his advantage to +the utmost with soldierly promptitude. The commander's faith and +courage were contagious, and the spies came back from their perilous +reconnaissance of Ai with the advice that a small detachment was enough +for its reduction. They had not spied the mound in the middle of +Achan's tent, or their note would have been changed. Three thousand, or +three hundred, would have been enough, if God had been with them. The +whole army would not have been enough since He was not. The site of Ai +seems to have been satisfactorily identified on a small plateau among +the intricate network of wild wadys and bare hills that rise behind +Jericho. The valley to the north, the place where the ambush lay at the +successful assault, and a great mound, still bearing the name 'Et Tel' +(the heap), are all there. The attacking force does not seem to have +been commanded by Joshua. The ark stayed at Gilgal, The contempt for +the resistance likely to be met makes the panic which ensued the more +remarkable. What turned the hearts of the confident assailants to +water? There was no serious fighting, or the slaughter would have been +more than thirty-six. 'There went up ... about three thousand and +they'--did what? fought and conquered? Alas, no, but 'they fled before +the men of Ai,' rushing in wild terror down the steep pass which they +had so confidently breasted in the morning, till the pursuers caught +them up at some 'quarries,' where, perhaps, the ground was difficult, +and there slew the few who fell, while the remainder got away by +swiftness of foot, and brought back their terror and their shame to the +camp. As the disordered fugitives poured in, they infected the whole +with their panic. Such unwieldy undisciplined hosts are peculiarly +liable to such contagious terror, and we find many instances in +Scripture and elsewhere of the utter disorganisation which ensues. The +whole conquest hung in the balance. A little more and the army would be +a mob; and the mob would break into twos and threes, which would get +short shrift from the Amorites. + +Ill. Mark, then, Joshua's action in the crisis. He does not try to +encourage the people, but turns from them to God. The spectacle of the +leader and the elders prone before the ark, with rent garments and +dust-bestrewn hair, in sign of mourning, would not be likely to hearten +the alarmed people; but the defeat had clearly shown that something had +disturbed the relation to God, and the first necessity was to know what +it was. Joshua's prayer is perplexed, and not free from a wistful, +backward look, nor from regard to his own reputation; but the soul of +it is an earnest desire to know the 'wherefore' of this disaster. It +traces the defeat to God, and means really, 'Show me wherefore Thou +contendest with me.' No doubt it runs perilously near to repeating the +old complaints at Kadesh and elsewhere, which are almost verbally +reproduced in its first words. But the same things said by different +people are not the same; and Joshua's question is the voice of a faith +struggling to find footing, and his backward look is not because he +doubts God's power to help, or hankers after Egypt, but because he sees +that, for some unknown reason, they have lost the divine protection. +His reference to himself betrays the crushing weight of responsibility +which he felt, and comes not from carefulness for his own good fame so +much as from his dread of being unable to vindicate himself, if the +people should turn on him as the author of their misfortunes. His fear +of the news of the check at Ai emboldening not only the neighbouring +Amorites (highlanders) of the western Palestine, but the remoter +Canaanites (lowlanders) of the coast, to make a combined attack, and +sweep Israel out of existence, was a perfectly reasonable forecast of +what would follow. The naive simplicity of the appeal to God, 'What +wilt Thou do for Thy great name?' becomes the soldier, whose words went +the shortest way to their aim, as his spear did. We cannot fancy this +prayer coming from Moses; but, for all that, it has the ring of faith +in it, and beneath its blunt, simple words throbs a true heart. + +IV. The answer sounds strange at first. God almost rebukes him for +praying. He gives Joshua back his own 'wherefore' in the question that +sounds so harsh, 'Wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face?' but +the harshness is only apparent, and serves to point the lesson that +follows, that the cause of the disaster is with Israel, not with God, +and that therefore the remedy is not in prayer, but in active steps to +cast out 'the unclean thing.' The prayer had asked two things,--the +disclosure of the cause of God's having left them, and His return. The +answer lays bare the cause, and therein shows the conditions of His +return. Note the indignant accumulation of verbs in verse 11, +describing the sin in all its aspects. The first three of the six point +out its heinousness in reference to God, as sin, as a breach of +covenant, and as an appropriation of what was specially His. The second +three describe it in terms of ordinary morality, as theft, lying, and +concealment; so many black sides has one sin when God's eye scrutinises +it. Note, too, the attribution of the sin to the whole people, the +emphatic reduplication of the shameful picture of their defeat, the +singular transference to them of the properties of 'the devoted thing' +which Achan has taken, and the plain, stringent conditions of God's +return. Joshua's prayer is answered. He knows now why little Ai has +beaten them back. He asked, 'What shall I say?' He has got something of +grave import to say. So far this passage carries us, leaving the +pitiful last hour of the wretched troubler of Israel untouched. What +lessons are taught here? + +First, God's soldiers must be pure. The conditions of God's help are +the same to-day as when that panic-stricken crowd ignominiously fled +down the rocky pass, foiled before an insignificant fortress, because +sin clave to them, and God was gone from them. The age of miracles may +have ceased, but the law of the divine intervention which governed the +miracles has not ceased. It is true to-day, and will always be true, +that the victories of the Church are won by its holiness far more than +by any gifts or powers of mind, culture, wealth, eloquence, or the +like. Its conquests are the conquests of an indwelling God, and He +cannot share His temples with idols. When God is with us, Jericho is +not too strong to be captured; when He is driven from us by our own +sin, Ai is not too weak to defeat us. A shattered wall keeps us out, if +we fight in our own strength. Fortifications that reach to heaven fall +flat before us when God is at our side. If Christian effort seems ever +fruitless, the first thing to do is to look for the 'Babylonish +garment' and the glittering shekels hidden in our tents. Nine times out +of ten we shall find the cause in our own spiritual deficiencies. Our +success depends on God's presence, and God's presence depends on our +keeping His dwelling-place holy. When the Church is 'fair as the moon,' +reflecting in silvery whiteness the ardours of the sun which gives her +all her light, and without such spots as dim the moon's brightness, she +will be 'terrible as an army with banners.' This page of Old Testament +history has a living application to the many efforts and few victories +of the churches of to-day, which seem scarce able to hold their own +amid the natural increase of population in so-called Christian lands, +and are so often apparently repulsed when they go up to attack the +outlying heathenism. + + 'His strength was as the strength of ten, + Because his heart was pure,' + +is true of the Christian soldier. + +Again, we learn the power of one man to infect a whole community and to +inflict disaster on it. One sick sheep taints a flock. The effects of +the individual's sin are not confined to the doer. We have got a fine +new modern word to express this solemn law, and we talk now of +'solidarity,' which sounds very learned and 'advanced.' But it means +just what we see in this story; Achan was the sinner, all Israel +suffered. We are knit together by a mystical but real bond, so that 'no +man,' be he good or bad, 'liveth to himself,' and no man's sin +terminates in himself. We see the working of that unity in families, +communities, churches, nations. Men are not merely aggregated together +like a pile of cannon balls, but are knit together like the myriad +lives in a coral rock. Put a drop of poison anywhere, and it runs by a +thousand branching veins through the mass, and tints and taints it all. +No man can tell how far the blight of his secret sins may reach, nor +how wide the blessing of his modest goodness may extend. We should +seek to cultivate the sense of being members of a great whole, and to +ponder our individual responsibility for the moral and religious health +of the church, the city, the nation. We are not without danger from an +exaggerated individualism, and we need to realise more constantly and +strongly that we are but threads in a great network, endowed with +mysterious vitality and power of transmitting electric impulses, both +of good and evil. + +Again, we have one more illustration in this story of the well-worn +lesson,--never too threadbare to be repeated, until it is habitually +realised,--that God's eye sees the hidden sins. Nobody saw Achan carry +the spoil to his tent, or dig the hole to hide it. His friends walked +across the floor without suspicion of what was beneath. No doubt, he +held his place in his tribe as an honourable man, and his conscience +traced no connection between that recently disturbed patch on the floor +and the helter-skelter flight from Ai; but when the lot began to be +cast, he would have his own thought, and when the tribe of Judah was +taken, some creeping fear would begin to coil round his heart, which +tightened its folds, and hissed more loudly, as each step in the lot +brought discovery nearer home; and when, at last, his own name fell +from the vase, how terribly the thought would glare in on him,--'And +God knew it all the while, and I fancied I had covered it all up so +safely.' It is an awful thing to hear the bloodhounds following up the +scent which leads them straight to our lurking-place. God's judgments +may be long in being put on our tracks, but, once loose, they are sure +of scent, and cannot be baffled. It is an old, old thought, 'Thou God +seest me'; but kept well in mind, it would save from many a sin, and +make sunshine in many a shady place. + +Again, we have in Achan a lesson which the professing Christians of +great commercial nations, like England, sorely need. I have already +pointed out the singular parallel between him and Ananias and Sapphira. +Covetousness was the sin of all three. It is the sin of the Church to- +day. The whole atmosphere in which some of us live is charged with the +subtle poison of it. Men are estimated by their wealth. The great aim +of life is to get money, or to keep it, or to gain influence and +notoriety by spending it. Did anybody ever hear of church discipline +being exercised on men who committed Achan's sin? _He_ was stoned +to death, but we set _our_ Achans in high places in the Church. +Perhaps if we went and fell on our faces before the ark when we are +beaten, we should be directed to some tent where a very 'influential +member' of Israel lived, and should find that to put an end to his +ecclesiastical life had a wonderful effect in bringing back courage to +the army, and leading to more unmingled dependence on God. Covetousness +was stoned to death in Israel, and struck with sudden destruction in +the Apostolic Church. It has been reserved for the modern Church to +tolerate and almost to canonise it; and yet we wonder how it comes that +we are so often foiled before some little Ai, and so seldom see any +walls falling by our assault. Let us listen to that stern sentence, 'I +will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from +among you.' + + + + +THE SUN STAYED + +Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon.'-JOSHUA x. 12 + + +'The last time,' what a sad sound that has! In all minds there is a +shrinking from the last time of doing even some common act. The walk +down a street that we have passed every day for twenty years, and never +cared in the least about, and the very doorsteps and the children in +the streets, have an interest for us, as pensively we leave the +commonplace familiar scene. + +On this last Sunday of another year, there comes a tone of sober +meditation over us, as we think that it _is_ the last. I would +fain let the hour preach. I have little to say but to give voice to its +lessons. + +My text is only taken as a starting-point, and I shall say nothing +about Joshua and his prayer. I do not discuss whether this was a +miracle or not. It seems, at any rate, to be taken by the writer of the +story as one. What a picture he draws of the fugitives rushing down the +rocky pass, blind in their fear, behind them the flushed and eager +conqueror, the burst of the sudden tempest and far in the west the +crescent moon, the leader on the hilltop with his prayer for but one +hour or two more of daylight to finish the wild work so well begun! +And, says the story, his wish was granted, and no day has been 'like +it before or since, in which the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a +man.' Once, and only once, did time seem to stand still; from the +beginning till now it has been going steadily on, and even then it only +seemed to stand. That day seemed longer, but life was passing all the +same. + +And so the first thought forced upon us here by our narrative and by +the season is the old one, so commonplace and yet so solemn. + +I. Life inexorably slides away from us. + +Once, and only once, it seemed to pause. How often since has Joshua's +prayer been prayed again! By the fearful,--the wretch to be hanged at +eight o'clock to-morrow morning, the man whom the next train will part +from all he loves. By the hopeful,--the child wearying for the +holidays, the bridegroom, + + 'Gallop apace, ye fiery-footed steeds!' + +By the suffering,-- + + 'Would God it were evening!' + +By the martyr amid the flames, + + 'Come quickly, Lord Jesus!' + +But all in vain. We cannot expand the moments to hours, nor compress +the hours to moments. Leaden or winged, the hours are hours. The cold- +blooded pendulum ticks on, equable and unaltered, and after sixty +minutes, no sooner and no later, the hour strikes. 'There is a time +for every purpose.' + +How solemn is the thought of that constant process! It goes on for +ever, like the sea fog creeping up from the wide ocean and burying life +and sunshine in its fatal folds, or like the ever-flowing river, or +like the fall plunging over the edge of the cliff, or like the motions +of the midnight sky. Each moment in its turn passes into the colourless +stony past, and the shadow creeps up the hillside. + +And how unnoticed it is! We only know motion by the jolts. The +revolution of the earth and its rush along its orbit are unfelt by us. +We are constantly startled to feel how long ago such and such a thing +took place. The mother sees her little girl at her knee, and in a few +days, as it seems, finds her a woman. How immense is our life in the +prospect, how awfully it collapses in the retrospect! Only by seeing +constellation after constellation set, do we know that the heavens are +in motion. We have need of an effort of serious reflection to realise +that it is of _us_ and of _our_ lives that all these old commonplaces +are true. + +That constant, unnoticed progress has an end. Our life is a definite +period, having a bounded past behind it, a present, and a bounded +future before it. We have a sandglass and it runs out. We are like men +sliding down a rope or hauling a boat towards a fixed point. The sea is +washing away our sandy island, and is creeping nearer and nearer to +where we stand, and will wash over us soon. No cries, nor prayers, nor +wishes will avail. It is vain for _us_ to say, 'Sun! stand thou +still!' + +II. Therefore our chief care should be to finish our work in our day. + +Joshua had his day lengthened; we can come to the same result by +crowding ours with service. What is the purpose of life? Is it a shop? +or a garden? a school? No. Our 'chief end' is to become like God and a +little to help forward His cause. All is intended to develop character; +all life is disciplinary. + +God's purpose should be our desire. That desire should mould all our +thoughts and acts. There should be no mere sentimental regrets for the +past, but the spirit of consecration should affect our thoughts about +it. There should be penitence, thankfulness, not vain mourning over +what is gone. There should be no waste or selfish use of the present. +What is it given us for but to use for God? + +Strenuous work is the true way to lengthen each day. Time is infinitely +elastic. The noblest work is to do 'the works of Him that sent me.' +There should be no care for the future. It is in His hand. There will +be room in it for doing all His will. + + 'Lord, it belongs not to my care, + Whether I die or live.' + +III. If so, the passing day will have results that never pass. + +Joshua's day was long enough for his work, and that work was a victory +which told on future generations. So life, short as it is, will be long +enough for all that we have to do and learn and be. + +Christ's servant is immortal till his work is done. + +God gives every man time enough for his salvation. + +What may we bring out of life? Character, Christ-likeness, thankful +memories, union with God, capacity for heaven. The transient leaves the +abiding. The flood foams itself away, but deposits rich soil on the +plain. + +IV. Thus the passing away of what must pass may become a joy. + +Why should we be sad? There are reasons enough, as many sad, lonely +hearts among us know too well To some men dark thoughts of death and +judgment make the crumbling away of life too gloomy a fact to be +contemplated, but it may and should be calm joy to us that the weary +world ends and a blessed life begins. We may count the moments and see +them pass, as a bride watches the hours rolling on to her marriage +morning; not, indeed, without tremor and sadness at leaving her old +home, but yet with meek hope and gentle joy. + +It is possible for men to see that life is but 'as a shadow that +declineth,' and yet to be glad. By faith in Christ, united to 'Him Who +is for ever and ever,' our souls shall 'triumph over death and thee, O +time.' + +We need not cry, 'Sun! stand still!' but rather, 'Come quickly, Lord +Jesus!' + +Then Time shall be 'the lackey to eternity,' and Death be the porter of +heaven's gate, and we shall pass from the land of setting suns and +waning moons and change and sorrow, to that land where 'thy sun shall +no more go down,' and 'there shall be no more time.' + + + + +UNWON BUT CLAIMED + +'There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed, ... them will I +drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide thou it by +lot unto Israel for an inheritance'--Joshua xiii. 1-8. + +Joshua was now a very old man and had occupied seven years in the +conquest. His work was over, and now he had only to take steps to +secure the completion by others of the triumph which he would never +see. This incident has many applications to the work of the Church in +the world, but not less important ones to individual progress, and we +consider these mainly now. + +I. The clear recognition of present imperfection. + +That is essential in all regions, 'Not as though'; the higher up, the +more clearly we see the summit. The ideal grows loftier, as partially +realised. The mountain seems comparatively low and easy till we begin +to climb. We should be continually driven by a sense of our +incompleteness, and drawn by the fair vision of unattained +possibilities. In all regions, to be satisfied with the attained is to +cease to grow. + +This is eminently so in the Christian life, with its goal of absolute +completeness. + +How blessed this dissatisfaction is! It keeps life fresh: it is the +secret of perpetual youth. + +Joshua's work was incomplete, as every man's must be. We each have our +limitations, the defects of our qualities, the barriers of our +environment, the brevity of our day of toil, and we have to be content +to carry the fiery cross a little way and then to give it up to other +hands. There is only One who could say,' It is done.' Let us see that +we do our own fragment. + +II. The confident reckoning on complete possession. + +Joshua's conquest was very partial. He subdued part of the central +mountain nucleus, but the low-lying stretch of country on the coast, +Philistia and the maritime plain up to Tyre and Sidon and other +outlying districts, remained unsubdued. Yet the whole land was now to +be allotted out to the tribes. That allotment must have strengthened +faith in their ultimate possession, and encouraged effort to make the +ideal a reality, and to appropriate as their own in fact what was +already theirs in God's purpose. So a great part of Christian duty, and +a great secret of Christian progress, is to familiarise ourselves with +the hope of complete victory. We should acquire the habit of +contemplating as certainly meant by God to be ours, complete conformity +to Christ's character, complete appropriation of Christ's gifts. God +bade Jeremiah buy a 'field that was in Anathoth' at the time an +invading army held the land. A Roman paid down money for the ground on +which the besiegers of Rome were encamped. It does not become +Christians to be less confident of victory. But we have to take heed +that our confidence is grounded on the right foundation. God's +commandment to Joshua to allot the land, even while the formidable foes +enumerated in the context held it firmly, was based on the assurance +(verse 6): 'Them will I drive out before the children of Israel.' +Confidence based on self is presumption, and will end in defeat; +confidence based on God will brace to noble effort, which is all the +more vigorous and will surely lead to victory, because it distrusts +self. + +III. The vigorous effort animated by both the preceding. + +How the habit of thinking the unconquered land theirs would encourage +Israel. Efforts without hope are feeble; hope without effort is +fallacious. + +Israel's history is significant. The land was never actually all +conquered. God's promises are all conditional, and if we do not work, +or if we work in any other spirit than in faith, we shall not win our +allotted part in the 'inheritance of the saints in light.' It is +possible to lose 'thy crow.' 'Work out your own salvation.' 'Trust in +the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land.' + + + + +CALEB--A GREEN OLD AGE + +'And Caleb... said unto him (Joshua), Thou knowest the thing that the +Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh- +barnea.'--JOSHUA xiv. 6. + + +Five and forty years had passed since the Lord had 'said this thing.' +It was the promise to these two, now old men, of the prolongation of +their lives, and to Caleb of his inheritance in the land. Seven years +of fighting have been got through, and the preparations are being made +for the division of the land by lot. But, before that is done, it is +fitting that Caleb, whose portion had been specially secured to him by +that old promise, should have the promise specially recognised and +endorsed by the action of the leader, and independent of the operation +of the lot. So he appears before Joshua, accompanied by the head men of +his tribe, whose presence expresses their official consent to the +exceptional treatment of their tribesman, and urges his request in a +little speech, full of pathos and beauty and unconscious portraiture of +the speaker. I take it as a picture of an ideal old age, showing in an +actual instance how happy, vigorous, full of buoyant energy and +undiminished appetite for enterprise a devout old age may be. And my +purpose now is not merely to comment on the few words of our text, but +upon the whole of what falls from the lips of Caleb here. + +I. I see then here, first, a life all built upon God's promise. + +Five times in the course of his short plea with Joshua does he use the +expression 'the Lord spake.' On the first occasion of the five he +unites Joshua with himself as a recipient of the promise, 'Thou knowest +the thing that the Lord said concerning me and thee.' But in the other +four he takes it all to himself; not because it concerned him only, but +because his confidence, laying hold of the promise, forgot his brother +in the earnestness of his personal appropriation of it. And so, +whatsoever general words God speaks to the world, a true believer will +make them his very own; and when Christ says, 'God so loved the world +that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him +should not perish,' faith translates it into 'He loved me, and gave +Himself for me.' This is the first characteristic of a life built upon +the promise of God, that it lays its hand upon that promise and claims +it all for its very own. + +Then notice, still further, how for all these forty-five years Caleb +had 'hid the word in his heart,' had lived upon it and thought about it +and believed it, and recognised the partial fulfilment of it, and +cherished the secret fire unknown to any besides. And now at last, +after so long an interval, he comes forward and stretches out a hand, +unweakened by the long delay, to claim the perfect fulfilment at the +end of his days. So 'the vision may tarry,' but a life based upon God's +promise has another estimate of swiftness and slowness than is current +amongst men who have only the years of earthly life to reckon by; and +that which to sense seems a long, weary delay, to faith seems but as 'a +watch in the night'. The world, which only measures time by its own +revolutions, has to lament over what seem to the sufferers long years +of pains and tears, but in the calendar of faith 'weeping endures for a +night, joy cometh in the morning.' The weary days dwindle into a point +when they are looked at with an eye that has been accustomed to gaze on +the solemn eternities of a promising and a faithful God. To it, as to +Him, 'a thousand years are as one day'; and 'one day,' in the +possibilities of divine favour and spiritual growth which it may +enfold, 'as a thousand years.' To the men who measure time as God +measures it, His help, howsoever long it may tarry, ever comes 'right +early.' + +Further, note how this life, built upon faith in the divine promise, +was nourished and nurtured by instalments of fulfilment all along the +road. Two promises were given to Caleb--one, that his life should be +prolonged, and the other, that he should possess the territory into +which he had so bravely ventured. The daily fulfilment of the one fed +the fire of his faith in the ultimate accomplishment of the other, and +he gratefully recounts it now, as part of his plea with Joshua--'Now, +behold, the Lord hath kept me alive as He spake, these forty and five +years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses. And now, lo! I +am this day fourscore and five years old.' + +Whosoever builds his life on the promise of God has in the present the +guarantee of the better future. As we are journeying onwards to that +great fountain-head of all sweetness and felicity, there are ever +trickling brooks from it by the way, at which we may refresh our +thirsty lips and invigorate our fainting strength. The present +instalment carries with it the pledge of the full discharge of the +obligation, and he whose heart and hope is fixed with a forward look on +the divine inheritance, may, as he looks backward over all the years, +see clearly in them one unbroken mass of preserving providences, and +thankfully say, 'The Lord hath kept me alive, as He spake.' + +And, still further, the life that is built upon faith like this man's, +is a life of buoyant hopefulness till the very end. The hopes of age +are few and tremulous. When the feast is nearly over, and the appetite +is dulled, there is little more to be done, but to push back our chairs +and go away. But God keeps 'the good wine' until the last. And when all +earthly hopes are beginning to wear thin and to burn dim, then the +great hope of 'the mountain of the inheritance' will rise brighter and +clearer upon our horizon. It is something to have a hope so far in +front of us that we never get up to it, to find it either less than our +expectations or more than our desires; and this is not the least of the +blessednesses of the living 'hope that maketh not ashamed,' that it +lies before us till the very end, and beckons and draws us across the +gulf of darkness. 'The Lord hath kept me alive, as He said; now give me +this mountain whereof the Lord spake.' + +II. Further, I see here a life that bears to be looked back at. + +Caleb becomes almost garrulous in telling over the old story of that +never-to-be-forgotten day, when he and Joshua stood alone and tried to +put some heart into the cowardly mob before them. There is no mock +modesty about the man. He says that, amidst many temptations to be +untrue, he gave his report with sincerity and veracity, 'speaking as it +was in mine heart,' and then he quotes twice, with a permissible +satisfaction, the eulogium that had come upon him from the divine lips, +'I wholly followed the Lord my God.' The private soldier's cheek may +well flush and his eye glitter as he repeats over again his general's +praise. And for Caleb, half a century has not dimmed the impression +that was made on his heart when he received that praise, through the +lips of Moses, from God. + +Now, of course, such a tone of speaking about one's past savours of an +earlier stage in revelation than that in which we live, and, if this +were to be taken as a man's total account of his whole life, we could +not free it from the charge of unpleasing self-complacency and self- +righteousness. But for all that, it is not the same thing in the +retrospect whether you and I have to look back upon years that have +been given to self, and the world, and passion, and pride, and +covetousness, and frivolities and trifles of all sorts, or upon years +that in the main, and regard being had to their deepest desires and +governing direction, have been given to God and to His service. Many a +man looking back upon his life--I wonder if there are any such men +listening to me now--can only see such a sight as Abraham did on that +morning when he looked down on the plain of Sodom, and 'Lo! the smoke +of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.' Dear friends I the only +thing that makes life in the retrospect tolerable is that it shall have +been given to God, and that we can say, 'I wholly followed the Lord my +God.' + +III. Again, I see here a life which has discovered the secret of +perpetual youth. + +'I,' says the old man--'am as strong this day as I was in the day when +Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for +war, both to go out and to come in.' For fighting, and for all the +intercourse and manifold activities of life, his sinews are as braced, +his eyes as clear, his spirit and limbs as alert as they were in those +old days. No doubt you will say that was due to miraculous +intervention. No doubt it was; but is it not true that, in a very real +sense, a man may keep himself young all his life, if he will go the +right way to work? And the secret of perpetual youthfulness lies here, +in giving our hearts to God and in living for Him. Christianity, with +its self-restraint and its exhortations to all, and especially to the +young, to be chaste and temperate and to subdue the animal passions, +has a direct tendency to conserve physical vigour; and Christianity, by +the inspiration that it imparts, the stimulus that it gives, and the +hopes that it permits us to cherish, has a direct tendency to keep +alive in old age all the best of the characteristics of youth. Its +buoyancy, its undimmed interest, its cheeriness, its freedom from +anxiety and care--all these things are directly ministered to, and +preserved by, a life of simple faith that casts itself upon God, and +dwells securely, in joy and in restfulness, and not without a great +light of hope, even when the shadows of evening are falling. + +One of the greatest and most blessed of the characteristics of youth is +the consciousness that the most of life lies before us; and to a +Christian man, in any stage of his earthly life, that consciousness is +possible. When he stands on the verge of the last sinking sandbank of +time, and the water is up to his ankles, he may well feel that the best +and the most of life is yet to be. + + 'The last of life, for which the first was made: + Our times are in His hand + Who saith, "A whole I planned. + Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid."' + +'They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, they shall be full of +sap and green.' A gnarled old tree may be green in all its branches, +and blossom and fruit may hang together there. The ideal of life is, +that into each stage we shall carry the best of the preceding, +harmonised with the best of the new, and that is possible to a +Christian soul. The fountain of perpetual youth, of which the ancients +fabled, is no fable, but a fact; and it rises, where the prophet in his +vision saw the stream coming out, from beneath the threshold of the +Temple door. + +IV. So, lastly, I see here a beautiful example of a life which to the +last is ready for danger and enterprise. + +Caleb's words as to his undiminished strength were not meant for a +boast. They express thankfulness and praise, and they are put as the +ground of the request that he has to make. He gives a chivalrous reason +for his petition when he says,' Now, therefore, give me this mountain, +_for_ the Anakims (the giants) are there; and the cities great and +fenced.' + +Caleb's readiness for one more fight was fed by his reliance on God's +help in it. When he says, 'It may be the Lord will be with me,' the +_perhaps_ is that of humility, not of doubt. The old warrior's eye +flashes, and his voice sounds strong and full, as he ends his words +with 'I _shall_ drive them out, as _the Lord spake_.' That has +the true ring. What were the three Anak chiefs, with their barbarous +names, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, and their giant stature, to +the onset of a warrior faith like that? Of course, 'Caleb drove out +thence the three sons of Anak,' and Hebron became his inheritance. +Nothing can stand against us, if we seek for our portion, not where +advantages are greatest, but where difficulties and dangers are most +rife, and cast ourselves into the conflict, sure that God is with us, +though humbly wondering that we should be worthy of His all- +conquering presence, and sure, therefore, that victory marches by our +sides. + +Old age is generally much more disposed to talk about its past +victories than to fight new ones; to rest upon its arms, or upon its +laurels, than to undertake fresh conflicts. Now and then we see a man, +statesman or other, who, bearing the burden of threescore years and ten +lightly, is still as alert of spirit, as eager for work, as bold for +enterprise, as he was years before. And in nine cases out of ten such a +man is a Christian; and his brilliant energy of service is due, not +only, nor so much, to natural vigour of constitution as to religion, +which has preserved his vigour because it has preserved his purity, and +been to him a stimulus and an inspiration. + +Danger is an attraction to the generous mind. It is the coward and the +selfish man who are always looking for an easy place, where somebody +else will do the work. This man felt that this miraculously prolonged +life of his bound him to special service, and the fact that up in +Hebron there were a fenced city and tall giants behind the battlements, +was an additional reason for picking out that bit of the field as the +place where he ought to be. Thank God, that spirit is not dead yet! It +has lived all through the Christian Church, and flamed up in times of +martyrdom. On missionary fields to-day, if one man falls two are ready +to step into his place. It is the true spirit of the Christian soldier. +'A great door and effectual is opened,' says Paul, 'and there are many +adversaries.' He knew the door was opened because the adversaries were +many. And because there were so many of them, would he run away? Some +of us would have said: 'I must abandon that work, it bristles with +difficulties; I cannot stop in that post, the bullets are whistling too +fast.' Nay! says Paul; 'I abide till Pentecost'--a good long while-- +because the post is dangerous, and promises to be fruitful. + +So, dear friends, if we would have lives on which we can look back, +lives in which early freshness will last beyond the 'morning dew,' +lives in which there shall come, day by day and moment by moment, +abundant foretastes to stay our hunger until we sit at Christ's table +in His kingdom, we must 'follow the Lord alway,' with no half-hearted +surrender, nor partial devotion, but give ourselves to Him utterly, to +be guided and sent where He will. And then, like Caleb, we shall be +able to say, with a 'perhaps,' not of doubt, but of wonder, that it +should be so, to us unworthy, 'It may be the Lord will be with me, arid +I shall drive them out.' In all these things 'we are more than +conquerors through Him that loved us.' + + + + +THE CITIES OF REFUGE + +'The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, 2. Speak to the children of +Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake +unto you by the hand of Moses: 3. That the slayer that killeth any +person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be +your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4. And when he that doth flee +unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the +city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that +city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a +place, that he may dwell among them. 5. And if the avenger of blood +pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his +hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not +beforetime. 6. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before +the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest +that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come +unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he +fled. 7. And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and +Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the +mountain of Judah. 8. And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, +they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe +of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in +Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9. These were the cities appointed +for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth +among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee +thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he +stood before the congregation.'--JOSHUA xx. 1-9. + + +Our Lord has taught us that parts of the Mosaic legislation were given +because of the 'hardness' of the people's hearts. The moral and +religious condition of the recipients of revelation determines and is +taken into account in the form and contents of revelation. That is +strikingly obvious in this institution of the 'cities of refuge.' They +have no typical meaning, though they may illustrate Christian truth. +But their true significance is that they are instances of revelation +permitting, and, while permitting, checking, a custom for the abolition +of which Israel was not ready. + +I. Cities of refuge were needed, because the 'avenger of blood' was +recognised as performing an imperative duty. 'Blood for blood' was the +law for the then stage of civilisation. The weaker the central +authority, the more need for supplementing it with the wild justice of +personal avenging. Neither Israel nor surrounding nations were fit for +the higher commandment of the Sermon on the Mount. 'An eye for an eye, +and a tooth for a tooth,' corresponded to their stage of progress; and +to have hurried them forward to 'I say unto you, Resist not evil,' +would only have led to weakening the restraint on evil, and would have +had no response in the hearers' consciences. It is a commonplace that +legislation which is too far ahead of public opinion is useless, except +to make hypocrites. And the divine law was shaped in accordance with +that truth. Therefore the _goel_, or kinsman-avenger of blood, was +not only permitted but enjoined by Moses. + +But the evils inherent in his existence were great. Blood feuds were +handed down through generations, involving an ever-increasing number of +innocent people, and finally leading to more murders than they +prevented. But the thing could not be abolished. Therefore it was +checked by this institution. The lessons taught by it are the gracious +forbearance of God with the imperfections attaching to each stage of +His people's moral and religious progress; the uselessness of violent +changes forced on people who are not ready for them; the presence of a +temporary element in the Old Testament law and ethics. + +No doubt many things in the present institutions of so-called Christian +nations and in the churches are destined to drop away, as the +principles of Christianity become more clearly discerned and more +honestly applied to social and national life. But the good shepherd +does not overdrive his flock, but, like Jacob, 'leads on softly, +according to the pace of the cattle that is before' him. We must be +content to bring the world gradually to the Christian ideal. To abolish +or to impose institutions or customs by force is useless. Revolutions +made by violence never last. To fell the upas-tree maybe very heroic, +but what is the use of doing it, if the soil is full of seeds of +others, and the climate and conditions favourable to their growth? +Change the elevation of the land, and the `flora' will change itself. +Institutions are the outcome of the whole mental and moral state of a +nation, and when that changes, and not till then, do they change. The +New Testament in its treatment of slavery and war shows us the +Christian way of destroying evils; namely, by establishing the +principles which will make them impossible. It is better to girdle the +tree and leave it to die than to fell it. + +II. Another striking lesson from the cities of refuge is the now well- +worn truth that the same act, when done from different motives, is not +the same. The kinsman-avenger took no heed of the motive of the +slaying. His duty was to slay, whatever the slayer's intention had +been. The asylum of the city of refuge was open for the unintentional +homicide, and for him only, Deliberate murder had no escape thither. So +the lesson was taught that motive is of supreme importance in +determining the nature of an act. In God's sight, a deed is done when +it is determined on, and it is not done, though done, when it was not +meant by the doer. 'Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer,' and he +that killeth his brother unawares is none. We suppose ourselves to have +learned that so thoroughly that it is trivial to repeat the lesson. + +What, then, of our thoughts and desires which never come to light in +acts? Do we recognise our criminality in regard to these as vividly as +we should? Do we regulate the hidden man of the heart accordingly? A +man may break all the commandments sitting in an easy-chair and doing +nothing. Von Moltke fought the Austro-Prussian war in his cabinet in +Berlin, bending over maps. The soldiers on the field were but pawns in +the dreadful game. So our battles are waged, and we are beaten or +conquerors, on the field of our inner desires and purposes. 'Keep thy +heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.' + +III. The elaborately careful specification of cases which gave the +fugitive a right to shelter in the city is set forth at length in +Numbers xxxv. 15-24, and Deuteronomy xix. 4-13. The broad principle is +there laid down that the cities were open for one who slew a man +'unwittingly.' But the plea of not intending to slay was held to be +negatived, not only if intention could be otherwise shown but if the +weapon used was such as would probably kill; such, for instance, as 'an +instrument of iron,' or a stone, or a 'weapon of wood, whereby a man +may die.' If we do what is likely to have a given result, we are +responsible for that result, should it come about, even though we did +not consciously seek to bring it. That is plain common sense. 'I never +thought the house would catch fire' is no defence from the guilt of +burning it down, if we fired a revolver into a powder barrel. Further, +if the fatal blow was struck in 'hatred,' or if the slayer had lain in +ambush to catch his victim, he was not allowed shelter. These careful +definitions freed the cities from becoming nests of desperate +criminals, as the 'sanctuaries' of the Middle Ages in Europe became. +They were not harbours for the guilty, but asylums for the innocent. + +IV. The procedure by which the fugitive secured protection is described +at length in the passages cited, with which the briefer account here +should be compared. It is not quite free from obscurity, but probably +the process was as follows. Suppose the poor hunted man arrived panting +at the limits of the city, perhaps with the avenger's sword within half +a foot of his neck; he was safe for the time. But before he could enter +the city, a preliminary inquiry was held 'at the gate' by the city +elders. That could only be of a rough-and-ready kind; most frequently +there would be no evidence available but the man's own word. It, +however, secured _interim_ protection. A fuller investigation +followed, and, as would appear, was held in another place,--perhaps at +the scene of the accident. 'The congregation' was the judge in this +second examination, where the whole facts would be fully gone into, +probably in the presence of the avenger. If the plea of non-intention +was sustained, the fugitive was 'restored to his city of refuge,' and +there remained safely till the death of the high-priest, when he was at +liberty to return to his home, and to stay there without fear. + +Attempts have been made to find a spiritual significance in this last +provision of the law, and to make out a lame parallel between the death +of the high-priest, which cancelled the crime of the fugitive, and the +death of Christ, which takes away our sins. But--to say nothing of the +fact that the fugitive was where he was just because he had done no +crime--the parallel breaks down at other points. It is more probable +that the death of one high-priest and the accession of another were +regarded simply as closing one epoch and beginning another, just as a +king's accession is often attended with an amnesty. It was natural to +begin a new era with a clean sheet, as it were. + +V. The selection of the cities brings out a difference between the +Jewish right of asylum and the somewhat similar right in heathen and +mediaeval times. The temples or churches were usually the sanctuaries +in these. But not the Tabernacle or Temple, but the priestly cities, +were chosen here. Their inhabitants represented God to Israel, and as +such were the fit persons to cast a shield over the fugitives; while +yet their cities were less sacred than the Temple, and in them the +innocent man-slayer could live for long years. The sanctity of the +Temple was preserved intact, the necessary provision for possibly +protracted stay was made, evils attendant on the use of the place of +worship as a refuge were avoided. + +Another reason--namely, accessibility swiftly from all parts of the +land--dictated the choice of the cities, and also their number and +locality. There were three on each side of Jordan, though the +population was scantier on the east than on the west side, for the +extent of country was about the same. They stood, roughly speaking, +opposite each other,--Kedesh and Golan in the north, Shechem and Ramoth +central, Hebron and Bezer in the south. So, wherever a fugitive was, he +had no long distance between himself and safety. + +We too have a 'strong city' to which we may 'continually resort.' The +Israelite had right to enter only if his act had been inadvertent, but +we have the right to hide ourselves in Christ just because we have +sinned wilfully. The hurried, eager flight of the man who heard the +tread of the avenger behind him, and dreaded every moment to be struck +to the heart by his sword, may well set forth what should be the +earnestness of our flight to 'lay hold on the hope set before us in the +gospel.' His safety, as soon as he was within the gate, and could turn +round and look calmly at the pursuer shaking his useless spear and +grinding his teeth in disappointment, is but a feeble shadow of the +security of those who rest in Christ's love, and are sheltered by His +work for sinners. 'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never +perish, and no one shall pluck them out of My hand.' + + + + +THE END OF THE WAR + +'And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto +their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44. And the +Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware unto +their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before +them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45. There +failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the +house of Israel; all came to pass. + +'Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe +of Manasseh, 2. And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses, the +servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that +I commanded you: 3. Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto +this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your +God. 4. And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren, +as He promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your +tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of +the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan. 5. But take diligent heed +to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord +charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, +and to keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him +with all your heart, and with all your soul. 6. So Joshua blessed them, +and sent them away: and they went unto their tents. 7. Now to the one +half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but +unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this +side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their +tents, then he blessed them, 8. And he spake unto them, saying, Return +with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with +silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very +much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. 9. +And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe +of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of +Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of +Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, +according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.'--JOSHUA xxi. +43-45; xxii. 1-9. + + +'The old order changeth, giving place to new.' In this passage we have +the breaking up of the congregation and the disbanding of the +victorious army. The seven years of fighting had come to an end. The +swords were to be 'beaten into plowshares,' and the comrades who had +marched shoulder to shoulder, and shared the fierce excitement of many +a bloody field, were to be scattered, each becoming a peaceful farmer +or shepherd. A picturesque historian, of the modern 'special +correspondent' sort, would have overlaid the narrative with sentiment +and description; but how quietly the writer tells it, so that we have +to bethink ourselves before we apprehend that we are reading the +account of an epoch-making event! He fixes attention on two things,-- +the complete fulfilment of God's promises (xxi. 43-45) and the +dismissal to their homes of the contingent from the trans-Jordanic +tribes, whose departure was the signal that the war was ended (xxii. 1- +8). We may consider the lessons from these two separately. + +I. The triumphant record of God's faithfulness (xxi. 43-45). These +three verses are the trophy reared on the battlefield, like the lion of +Marathon, which the Greeks set on its sacred soil. But the only name +inscribed on this monument is Jehovah's. Other memorials of victories +have borne the pompous titles of commanders who arrogated the glory to +themselves; but the Bible knows of only one conqueror, and that is God. +'The help that is done on earth, He doeth it all Himself.' The military +genius and heroic constancy of Joshua, the eagerness for perilous +honour that flamed, undimmed by age, in Caleb, the daring and strong +arms of many a humble private in the ranks, have their due recognition +and reward; but when the history that tells of these comes to sum up +the whole, and to put the 'philosophy' of the conquest into a sentence, +it has only one name to speak as cause of Israel's victory. + +That is the true point of view from which to look at the history of the +world and of the church in the world. The difference between the +'miraculous' conquest of Canaan and the 'ordinary' facts of history is +not that God did the one and men do the other; both are equally, though +in different methods, His acts. In the field of human affairs, as in +the realm of nature, God is immanent, though in the former His working +is complicated by the mysterious power of man's will to set itself in +antagonism to His; while yet, in manner insoluble to us, His will is +supreme. The very powers which are arrayed against Him are His gift, +and the issues which they finally subserve are His appointment. It does +not need that we should be able to pierce to the bottom of the +bottomless in order to attain and hold fast by the great conviction +that 'there is no power but of God,' and that 'from Him are all things, +and to Him are all things.' + +Especially does this trophy on the battlefield teach a needful lesson +to us in the Christian warfare. We are ever apt to think too much of +our visible weapons and leaders, and to forget our unseen and ever- +present Commander, from whom comes all our power. We 'burn incense to +our own net, and sacrifice to our own drag,' and, like the heathen +conqueror of whom Habakkuk speaks, make our swords our gods (Hab. i. +11, 16). The Church has always been prone to hero-worship, and to the +idolatry of its organisation, its methods, or its theology. Augustine +did so and so; Luther smote the 'whited wall' (the Pope) a blow that +made him reel; the Pilgrim Fathers carried a slip of the plant of +religious liberty in a tiny pot across the Atlantic, and watered it +with tears till it has grown a great tree; the Wesleys revived a formal +Church,--let us sing hallelujahs to these great names! By all means; +but do not let us forget whence they drew their power; and let us +listen to Paul's question, 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but +servants through whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?' + +And let us carve, deep-cut and indelible, in solitary conspicuousness, +on the trophy that we rear on each well-fought field, the name of no +man save 'Jesus only.' We read that on a pyramid in Egypt the name and +sounding titles of the king in whose reign it was erected were blazoned +on the plaster facing, but beneath that transitory inscription the name +of the architect was hewn, imperishable, in the granite, and stood out +when the plaster dropped away. So, when all the short-lived records +which ascribe the events of the Church's progress to her great men have +perished, the one name of the true builder will shine out, and 'at the +name of Jesus every knee shall bow.' Let us not rely on our own skill, +courage, talents, orthodoxy, or methods, nor try to 'build tabernacles' +for the witnessing servants beside the central one for the supreme +Lord, but ever seek to deepen our conviction that Christ, and Christ +only, gives all their powers to all, and that to Him, and Him only, is +all victory to be ascribed. That is an elementary and simple truth; but +if we really lived in its power we should go into the battle with more +confidence, and come out of it with less self-gratulation. + +We may note, too, in these verses, the threefold repetition of one +thought, that of God's punctual and perfect fulfilment of His word. He +'gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give'; 'He gave them +rest, ... according to all that He sware'; 'there failed not aught of +any good thing which the Lord had spoken.' It is the joy of thankful +hearts to compare the promise with the reality, to lay the one upon the +other, as it were, and to declare how precisely their outlines +correspond. The finished building is exactly according to the plans +drawn long before. God gives us the power of checking His work, and we +are unworthy to receive His gifts if we do not take delight in marking +and proclaiming how completely He has fulfilled His contract. It is no +small part of Christian duty, and a still greater part of Christian +blessedness, to do this. Many a fulfilment passes unnoticed, and many a +joy, which might be sacred and sweet as a token of love from His own +hand, remains common and unhallowed, because we fail to see that it is +a fulfilled promise. The eye that is trained to watch for God's being +as good as His word will never have long to wait for proofs that He is +so. 'Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even he shall +understand the loving kindness of the Lord.' And to such a one faith +will become easier, being sustained by experience; and a present thus +manifestly studded with indications of God's faithfulness will merge +into a future still fuller of these. For it does not need that we +should wait for the end of the war to have many a token that His every +word is true. The struggling soldier can say, 'No good thing has failed +of all that the Lord has spoken.' We look, indeed, for completer +fulfilment when the fighting is done; but there are 'brooks by the way' +for the warriors in the thick of the fight, of which they drink, and, +refreshed, 'lift up the head.' We need not postpone this glad +acknowledgment till we can look back and down from the land of peace on +the completed campaign, but may rear this trophy on many a field, +whilst still we look for another conflict to-morrow. + +II. The disbanding of the contingent from the tribes across Jordan +(xxii. 1-8). Forty thousand fighting men, of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, +and the half of Manasseh, had willingly helped in the conquest, leaving +their own newly-won homes on the eastern side of Jordan, and for seven +long years taking their share in the hardships and dangers of their +brethren. It was no small tax which they had thus cheerfully paid for +the sake of brotherly unity. Their aid had not only been valuable as +strengthening Joshua's force, but still more so as a witness of the +unbroken oneness of the nation, and of the sympathy which the tribes +already settled bore to the others. Politically, it was wise to +associate the whole people in the whole conquest; for nothing welds a +nation together like the glories of common victories and the +remembrance of common dangers survived. The separation of the trans- +Jordanic tribes by the rapid river, and by their pastoral life, was a +possible source of weakness, and would, no doubt, have led to more +complete severance, if it had not been for the uniting power of the +campaign. If the forty thousand had been quietly feeding sheep on the +uplands while their brethren were fighting among the stony hills of +Canaan, a great gulf would have opened between them. Even as it was, +the eastern tribes drifted somewhat away from the western; but the +disintegration would have been still more complete if no memories of +the war, when all Israel stood side by side, had lived on among them. +Their share in the conquest was not only a piece of policy,--it was the +natural expression of the national brotherhood. Even I Joshua had not +ordered their presence, it would have been impossible for them to stop +in their peacefulness and let their brethren bear the brunt of battle. + +The law for us is the same as for these warriors. In the family, the +city, the nation, the Church, and the world, union with others binds us +to help them in their conflicts, and that especially if we are blessed +with secure possessions, while they have to struggle for theirs. We are +tempted to selfish lives of indulgence in our quiet peace, and +sometimes think it hard that we should be expected to buckle on our +armour, and leave our leisurely repose, because our brethren ask the +help of our arms. If we did as Reuben and Gad did, would there be so +many rich men who never stir a finger to relieve poverty, so many +Christians whose religion is much more selfish than beneficent? Would +so many souls be left to toil without help, to struggle without allies, +to weep without comforters, to wander in the dark without a guide? All +God's gifts in providence and in the Gospel are given that we may have +somewhat wherewith to bless our less happy brethren. 'The service of +man' is not the substitute for, but the expression of, Christianity. +Are we not kept here, on this side Jordan, away for a time from our +inheritance, for the very same reason that these men were separated +from theirs,--that we may strike some strokes for God and our fellows +in the great war? Dives, who lolls on his soft cushions, and has less +pity for Lazarus than the dogs have, is Cain come to life again; and +every Christian is either his brother's keeper or his murderer. Would +that the Church of to-day, with infinitely deeper and sacreder ties +knitting it to suffering, struggling humanity, had a tithe of the +willing relinquishment of legitimate possessions and patient +participation in the long campaign for God which kept these rude +soldiers faithful to their flag and forgetful of home and ease, till +their general gave them their discharge! + +Note the commander's parting charge. They were about to depart for a +life of comparative separation from the mass of the nation. Their +remoteness and their occupations drew them away from the current of the +national life, and gave them a kind of quasi-independence. They would +necessarily be less directly under Joshua's control than the other +tribes were. He sends them away with one commandment, the Imperative +stringency of which is expressed by the accumulation of expressions in +verse 5. They are to give diligent heed to the law of Moses. Their +obedience is to be based on love to God, who is their God no less than +the God of the other tribes. It is to be comprehensive--they are 'to +walk in all His ways'; it is to be resolute--they are 'to cleave to +Him'; it is to be wholehearted and whole-souled service, that will be +the true bond between the separated parts of the whole. Independence so +limited will be harmless; and, however wide apart their paths may lie, +Israel will be one. In like manner the bond that knits all divisions of +God's people together, however different their modes of life and +thought, however unlike their homes and their work, is the similarity +of relation to God. They are one in a common faith, a common love, a +common obedience. Wider waters than Jordan part them. Graver +differences of tasks and outlooks than separated these two sections of +Israel part them. But all are one who love and obey the one Lord. The +closer we cleave to Him, the nearer we shall be to all His tribes. + +We need only note in a word how these departing soldiers, leaving the +battlefield with their commander's praise and benediction, laden with +much wealth, the spoil of their enemies, and fording the stream to +reach the peaceful homes, which had long stood ready for them, may be +taken, by a permissible play of fancy, as symbols of the faithful +servants and soldiers of the true Joshua, at the end of their long +warfare passing to the 'kingdom prepared for them before the foundation +of the world,' bearing in their hands the wealth which, by God's grace, +they had conquered from out of things here. _They_ are not sent away +by their Commander, but summoned by Him to the great peace of His own +presence; and while His lips give them the praise which is praise +indeed, they inscribe on the perpetual memorial which they rear no name +but His, who first wrought all their works in them, and now has +ordained eternal peace for them. + + + + +THE NATIONAL OATH AT SHECHEM + +'And Joshua said unto the people. Ye cannot serve the Lord: for He is +an holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your +transgressions nor your sins. 20. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve +strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after +that He hath done you good. 21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; +but we will serve the Lord. 22. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are +witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you the Lord, to +serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23. Now therefore put away, +said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart +unto the Lord God of Israel. 24. And the people said unto Joshua, The +Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey. 25. So Joshua +made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an +ordinance in Shechem. 26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of +the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an +oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27. And Joshua said unto +all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it +hath heard all the words of the Lord which He spake unto us: it shall +be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 28. So Joshua +let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.'-JOSHUA xxiv. +19-28. + + +We reach in this passage the close of an epoch. It narrates the last +public act of Joshua and the last of the assembled people before they +scatter 'every man unto his inheritance.' It was fitting that the +transition from the nomad stage to that of settled abode in the land +should be marked by the solemn renewal of the covenant, which is thus +declared to be the willingly accepted law for the future national life. +We have here the closing scene of that solemn assembly set before us. + +The narrative carries us to Shechem, the lovely valley in the heart of +the land, already consecrated by many patriarchal associations, and by +that picturesque scene (Joshua viii. 30-35), when the gathered nation, +ranged on the slopes of Ebal and Gerizim, listened to Joshua reading +'all that Moses commanded.' There, too, the coffin of Joseph, which had +been reverently carried all through the desert and the war, was laid in +the ground that Jacob had bought five hundred years ago, and which now +had fallen to Joseph's descendants, the tribe of Ephraim. There was +another reason for the selection of Shechem for this renewal of the +covenant. The gathered representatives of Israel stood, at Shechem, on +the very soil where, long ago, Abram had made his first resting-place +as a stranger in the land, and had received the first divine pledge, +'unto thy seed will I give this land,' and had piled beneath the oak of +Moreh his first altar (of which the weathered stones might still be +there) to 'the Lord, who appeared unto him.' It was fitting that this +cradle of the nation should witness their vow, as it witnessed the +fulfilment of God's promise. What Plymouth Rock is to one side of the +Atlantic, or Hastings Field to the other, Shechem was to Israel. Vows +sworn there had sanctity added by the place. Nor did these remembrances +exhaust the appropriateness of the site. The oak, which had waved green +above Abram's altar, had looked down on another significant incident in +the life of Jacob, when, in preparation for his journey to Bethel, he +had made a clean sweep of the idols of his household, and buried them +'under the oak which was by Shechem' (Gen. xxxv. 2-4). His very words +are quoted by Joshua in his command, in verse 23, and it is impossible +to overlook the intention to parallel the two events. The spot which +had seen the earlier act of purification from idolatry was for that +very reason chosen for the later. It is possible that the same tree at +whose roots the idols from beyond the river, which Leah and Rachel had +brought, had been buried, was that under which Joshua set up his +memorial stone; and it is possible that the very stone had been part of +Abram's altar. But, in any case, the place was sacred by these past +manifestations of God and devotions of the fathers, so that we need not +wonder that Joshua selected it rather than Shiloh, where the ark was, +for the scene of this national oath of obedience. Patriotism and +devotion would both burn brighter in such an atmosphere. These +considerations explain also the designation of the place as 'the +sanctuary of the Lord,'--a phrase which has led some to think of the +Tabernacle, and apparently occasioned the Septuagint reading of +'Shiloh' instead of 'Shechem' in verses 1 and 25. The precise rendering +of the preposition in verse 26 (which the Revised Version has put in +the margin) shows that the Tabernacle is not meant; for how could the +oak-tree be 'in' the Tabernacle? Clearly, the open space, hallowed by +so many remembrances, and by the appearance to Abram, was regarded as a +sanctuary. + +The earlier part of this chapter shows that the people, by their +representatives, responded with alacrity--which to Joshua seemed too +eager--to his charge, and enumerated with too facile tongues God's +deliverances and benefits. His ear must have caught some tones of +levity, if not of insincerity, in the lightly-made vow. So he meets it +with a douche of cold water in verses 19, 20, because he wishes to +condense vaporous resolutions into something more tangible and +permanent. Cold, judiciously applied, solidifies. Discouragements, +rightly put, encourage. The best way to deepen and confirm good +resolutions which have been too swiftly and inconsiderately formed, is +to state very plainly all the difficulty of keeping them. The hand that +seems to repel, often most powerfully attracts. There is no better way +of turning a somewhat careless 'we will' into a persistent 'nay, but we +_will_' than to interpose a 'ye cannot.' Many a boy has been made +a sailor by the stories of hardships which his parents have meant as +dissuasives. Joshua here is doing exactly what Jesus Christ often did. +He refused glib vows because He desired whole hearts. His very longing +that men should follow Him made Him send them back to bethink +themselves when they promised to do it. 'Master, I will follow Thee +whithersoever Thou goest!' was answered by no recognition of the +speaker's enthusiasm, and by no word of pleasure or invitation, but by +the apparently cold repulse: 'Foxes have holes, birds of the air +roosting-places; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head. That +is what you are offering to share. Do you stand to your words?' So, +when once 'great multitudes' came to Him He turned on them, with no +invitation in His words, and told them the hard conditions of +discipleship as being entire self-renunciation. He will have no +soldiers enlisted under false pretences. They shall know the full +difficulties and trials which they must meet; and if, knowing these, +they still are willing to take His yoke upon them, then how exuberant +and warm the welcome which He gives! + +There is a real danger that this side of the evangelist's work should +be overlooked in the earnestness with which the other side is done. We +cannot be too emphatic in our reiteration of Christ's call to all the +'weary and heavy-laden' to come unto Him, nor too confident in our +assurance that whosoever comes will not be 'cast out'; but we may be, +and, I fear, often are, defective in our repetition of Christ's demand +for entire surrender, and of His warning to intending disciples of what +they are taking upon them. We shall repel no true seeker by duly +emphasising the difficulties of the Christian course. Perhaps, if there +were more plain speaking about these at the beginning, there would be +fewer backsliders and dead professors with 'a name to live.' Christ ran +the risk of the rich ruler's going away sorrowful, and so should His +messengers do. The sorrow tells of real desire, and the departure will +sooner or later be exchanged for return with a deeper and more thorough +purpose, if the earlier wish had any substance in it. If it had not, +better that the consciousness of its hollowness should be forced upon +the man, than that he should outwardly become what he is not really,--a +Christian; for, in the one case, he may be led to reflection which may +issue in thorough surrender; and in the other he will be a self- +deceived deceiver, and probably an apostate. + +Note the special form of Joshua's warning. It turns mainly on two +points,--the extent of the obligations which they were so lightly +incurring, and the heavy penalties of their infraction. As to the +former, the vow to 'serve the Lord' had been made, as he fears, with +small consideration of what it meant. In heathenism, the 'service' of a +god is a mere matter of outward acts of so-called worship. There is +absolutely no connection between religion and morality in idolatrous +systems. The notion that the service of a god implies any duties in +common life beyond ceremonial ones is wholly foreign to paganism in all +its forms. The establishment of the opposite idea is wholly the +consequence of revelation. So we need not wonder if the pagan +conception of service was here in the minds of the vowing assembly. If +we look at their vow, as recorded in verses 16-18, we see nothing in it +which necessarily implies a loftier idea. Jehovah is their national +God, who has fought and conquered for them, therefore they will 'serve +Him.' If we substitute Baal, or Chemosh, or Nebo, or Ra, for Jehovah, +this is exactly what we read on Moabite stones and Assyrian tablets and +Egyptian tombs. The reasons for the service, and the service itself, +are both suspiciously external. We are not judging the people more +harshly than Joshua did; for he clearly was not satisfied with them, +and the tone of his answer sufficiently shows what he thought wrong in +them. Observe that he does not call Jehovah 'your God.' He does so +afterwards; but in this grave reply to their exuberant enthusiasm he +speaks of Him only as 'the Lord,' as if he would put stress on the +monotheistic conception, which, at all events, does not appear in the +people's words, and was probably dim in their thoughts. Then observe +that he broadly asserts the impossibility of their serving the Lord; +that is, of course, so long as they continued in their then tone of +feeling about Him and His service. + +Then observe the points in the character of God on which he dwells, as +indicating the points which were left out of view by the people, and as +fitted to rectify their notions of service. First, 'He is an holy God.' +The scriptural idea of the holiness of God has a wider sweep than we +often recognise. It fundamentally means His supreme and inaccessible +elevation above the creature; which, of course, is manifested in His +perfect separation from all sin, but has not regard to this only. +Joshua here urges the infinite distance between man and God, and +especially the infinite moral distance, in order to enforce a +profounder conception of what goes to God's service. A holy God cannot +have unholy worshippers. His service can be no mere ceremonial, but +must be the bowing of the whole man before His majesty, the aspiration +of the whole man after His loftiness, the transformation of the whole +man into the reflection of His purity, the approach of the unholy to +the Holy through a sacrifice which puts away sin. + +Further, He is 'a jealous God.' 'Jealous' is an ugly word, with +repulsive associations, and its application to God has sometimes been +explained in ugly fashion, and has actually repelled men. But, rightly +looked at, what does it mean but that God desires our whole hearts for +His own, and loves us so much, and is so desirous to pour His love into +us, that He will have no rivals in our love? The metaphor of marriage, +which puts His love to men in the tenderest form, underlies this word, +so harsh on the surface, but so gracious at the core. + +There is still abundant need for Joshua's warning. We rejoice that it +takes so little to be a Christian that the feeblest and simplest act of +faith knits the soul to the all-forgiving Christ. But let us not forget +that, on the other hand, it is hard to be a Christian indeed; for it +means 'forsaking all that we have,' and loving God with all our powers. +The measure of His love is the measure of His 'jealousy,' and He loves +us no less than He did Israel. Unless our conceptions of His service +are based upon our recognition of His holiness and demand for our all, +we, too, 'cannot serve the Lord.' + +The other half of Joshua's warnings refers to the penalties of the +broken vows. These are put with extraordinary force. The declaration +that the sins of the servants of God would not be forgiven is not, of +course, to be taken so as to contradict the whole teaching of +Scripture, but as meaning that the sins of His people cannot be left +unpunished. The closer relation between God and them made retribution +certain. The law of Israel's existence, which its history ever since +has exemplified, was here laid down, that their prosperity depended on +their allegiance, and that their nearness to Him ensured His +chastisement for their sin. 'You only have I known of all the families +of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.' + +The remainder of the incident must be briefly disposed of. These +warnings produced the desired effect; for Joshua did not seek to +prevent, but to make more intelligent and firm, the people's +allegiance. The resolve, repeated after fuller knowledge, is the best +reward, as it is the earnest hope, of the faithful teacher, whose +apparent discouragements are meant to purify and deepen, not to +repress, the faintest wish to serve God. Having tested their sincerity, +he calls them to witness that their resolution is perfectly voluntary; +and, on their endorsing it as their free choice, he requires the +putting away of their 'strange gods,' and the surrender of their inward +selves to Him who, by this their action as well as by His benefits, +becomes in truth 'the God of Israel.' Attempts have been made to evade +the implication that idolatry had crept in among the people; but there +can be no doubt of the plain, sad meaning of the words. They are a +quotation of Jacob's, at the same spot, on a similar occasion centuries +before. If there were no idols buried now under the old oak, it was not +because there were none in Israel, but because they had not been +brought by the people from their homes. Joshua's commands are the +practical outcome of his previous words. If God be 'holy' and +'jealous,' serving Him must demand the forsaking of all other gods, and +the surrender of heart and self to Him. That is as true to-day as ever +it was. The people accept the stringent requirement, and their repeated +shout of obedience has a deeper tone than their first hasty utterance +had. They have learned what service means,--that it includes more than +ceremonies; and they are willing to obey His voice. Blessed those for +whom the plain disclosure of all that they must give up to follow Him, +only leads to the more assured and hearty response of willing +surrender! + +The simple but impressive ceremony which ratified the covenant thus +renewed consisted of two parts,--the writing of the account of the +transaction in 'the book of the law'; and the erection of a great +stone, whose grey strength stood beneath the green oak, a silent +witness that Israel, by his own choice, after full knowledge of all +that the vow meant, had reiterated his vow to be the Lord's. Thus on +the spot made sacred by so many ancient memories, the people ended +their wandering and homeless life, and passed into the possession of +the inheritance, through the portal of this fresh acceptance of the +covenant, proclaiming thereby that they held the land on condition of +serving God, and writing their own sentence in case of unfaithfulness. +It was the last act of the assembled people, and the crown and close of +Joshua's career. + + + + +THE BOOK OF JUDGES + + + + +A SUMMARY OF ISRAEL'S FAITHLESSNESS AND GOD'S PATIENCE + +'And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I +made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land +which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my +covenant with you. 2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants +of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed +my voice: why have ye done this? 3. Wherefore I also said, I will not +drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your +sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 4. And it came to +pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the +children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5. +And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed +there unto the Lord. 6. And when Joshua had let the people go, the +children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the +land. 7. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all +the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great +works of the Lord that He did for Israel. 8. And Joshua the son of Nun, +the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9. +And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, +in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10. And +also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there +arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet +the works which He had done for Israel.'--JUDGES II. 1-10. + + +The Book of Judges begins a new era, the development of the nation in +its land. Chapters i. to iii. 6 contain two summaries: first, of the +progress of the conquest; and second, of the history about to be +unfolded in the book. The first part of this passage (verses 1-5) +belongs to the former, and closes it; the second (verses 6-10) +introduces the latter, and contrasts it with the state of things +prevailing as long as the soldiers of Joshua lived. + +I. 'The Angel of the Lord' had appeared to Joshua in Gilgal at the +beginning of the war, and issued his orders as 'Captain of the Lord's +host.' Now He reappears to ask why his orders had not been carried out, +and to announce that victory was no longer to attend Israel's arms. +Nothing can be plainer than that the Angel speaks as one in whom the +divine name dwells. His reiterated 'I's' are incomprehensible on any +other hypothesis than that He is that mysterious person, distinct from +and yet one with Jehovah, whom we know as the 'Word made flesh.' His +words here are stern. He enumerates the favours which He had showed to +Israel, and which should have inspired them to glad obedience. He +recalls the conditions on which they had received the land; namely, +that they were to enter into no entangling alliances with the remnant +of the inhabitants, and especially to have no tolerance for their +idolatry. Here we may observe that, according to Joshua's last charge, +the extermination of the native peoples was not contemplated, but that +there should be no such alliances as would peril Israel's observance of +the covenant (Joshua xxiii. 7, 12). He charges them with disobedience, +and asks the same question as had been asked of Eve, 'What is this ye +have done?' And He declares the punishment about to follow, in the +paralysing of Israel's conquering arm by the withdrawal of His +conquering might, and in the seductions from the native inhabitants to +which they would fall victims. + +Note, then, how God's benefits aggravate our disobedience, and how He +bases His right to command on them. Further, note how His promises are +contingent on our fulfilment of their conditions, and how a covenant +which He has sworn that He will never break He does count as non- +existent when men break it. Again, observe the sharp arraignment of the +faithless, and the forcing of them to bethink themselves of the true +character of their deeds, or, if we adopt the Revised Version's +rendering, of the unreasonableness of departing from God. No man dare +answer when God asks, 'What hast thou done?' No man can answer +reasonably when He asks, 'Why hast thou done it?' Once more, note that +His servants sin when they allow themselves to be so mixed up with the +world that they are in peril of learning its ways and getting a snare +to their souls. We have all unconquered 'Canaanites' in our hearts, and +amity with them is supreme folly and crying wickedness. 'Thorough' must +be our motto. Many times have the conquered overcome their conquerors, +as in Rome's conquest of Greece, the Goths' conquest of Rome, the +Normans' conquest of England. Israel was in some respects conquered by +Canaanites and other conquered tribes. Let us take care that we are not +overcome by our inward foes, whom we fancy we have subdued and can +afford to treat leniently. + +Again, God punishes our making truce with our spiritual foes by letting +the effects of the truce work themselves out. He said to Israel, in +effect: 'If you make alliances with the people of the land, you shall +no longer have power to cast them out. The swift rush of the stream of +victory shall be stayed. You have chosen to make them your friends, and +their friendship shall produce its natural effects, of tempting you to +imitation.' The increased power of our unsubdued evils is the +punishment, as it is the result, of tolerance of them. We wanted to +keep them, and dreamed that we could control them. Keep them we shall, +control them we cannot. They will master us if we do not expel them. No +wonder that the place was named Bochim ('Weepers'), when such stern +words were thundered forth. Tears flow easily; and many a sin is wept +for once, and afterwards repeated often. So it was with Israel, as the +narrative goes on to tell. Let us take the warning, and give heed to +make repentance deep and lasting. + +II. Verses 6-10 go back to an earlier period than the appearance of the +Angel. We do not know how long the survivors of the conquering army +lived in sufficient numbers to leaven opinion and practice. We may, +however, roughly calculate that the youngest of these would be about +twenty when the war began, and that about fifty years would see the end +of the host that had crossed Jordan and stormed Jericho. If Joshua was +of about the same age as Caleb, he would be about eighty at the +beginning of the conquest, and lived thirty years afterwards, so that +about twenty years after his death would be the limit of 'the elders +that outlived Joshua.' + +Verses 6-9 substantially repeat Joshua xxiv. 28-31, and are here +inserted to mark not only the connection with the former book, but to +indicate the beginning of a new epoch. The facts narrated in this +paragraph are but too sadly in accord with the uniform tendencies of +our poor weak nature. As long as some strong personality leads a nation +or a church, it keeps true to its early fervour. The first generation +which has lived through some great epoch, when God's arm has been made +bare, retains the impression of His power. But when the leader falls, +it is like withdrawing a magnet, and the heap of iron filings tumbles +back to the ground inert. Think of the post-Apostolic age of the +Church, of Germany in the generation after Luther, not to come nearer +home, and we must see that Israel's experience was an all but universal +one. It is hard to keep a community even of professing Christians on +the high level. No great cause is ever launched which does not lose +'way' as it continues. 'Having begun in the Spirit,' all such are too +apt to continue 'in the flesh.' The original impulses wane, friction +begins to tell. Custom clogs the wheels. The fiery lava-stream cools +and slackens. So it always has been. Therefore God has to change His +instruments, and churches need to be shaken up, and sometimes broken +up, 'lest one good,' when it has degenerated into 'custom,' should +'corrupt the world.' + +But we shall miss the lesson here taught if we do not apply it to +tendencies in ourselves, and humbly recognise that we are in danger of +being 'hindered,' however 'well' we may have begun to 'run,' and that +our only remedy is to renew continually our first-hand vision of 'the +great works of the Lord,' and our consecration to His service. It is a +poor affair if, like Israel, our devotion to God depends on Joshua's +life, or, like King Joash, we do that which is 'right in the eyes of +the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.' + + + + +ISRAEL'S OBSTINACY AND GOD'S PATIENCE + +'And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and +served Baalim; 12. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, +which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, +of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed +themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. 13. And they +forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14. And the anger of +the Lord was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands +of spoilers that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their +enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before +their enemies. 15. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord +was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had +sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 16. Nevertheless the +Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those +that spoiled them. 17. And yet they would not hearken unto their +judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves +unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers +walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. +18. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the +judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days +of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings, by +reason of them that oppressed them, and vexed them. 19. And it came to +pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted +themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve +them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, +nor from their stubborn way. 20. And the anger of the Lord was hot +against Israel; and He said, Because that this people hath transgressed +My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened +unto My voice; 21. I also will not henceforth drive out any from before +them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 22. That through +them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, to +walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23. Therefore the +Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither +delivered He them into the hand of Joshua.'--JUDGES ii. 11-23. + + +This passage sums up the Book of Judges, and also the history of Israel +for over four hundred years. Like the overture of an oratorio, it +sounds the main themes of the story which follows. That story has four +chapters, repeated with dreary monotony over and over again. They are: +Relapse into idolatry, retribution, respite and deliverance, and brief +return to God. The last of these phases soon passes into fresh relapse, +and then the old round is gone all over again, as regularly as the +white and red lights and the darkness reappear in a revolving +lighthouse lantern, or the figures recur in a circulating decimal +fraction. That sad phrase which begins this lesson, 'The children of +Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,' is repeated at the beginning +of each new record of apostacy, on which duly follow, as outlined here, +the oppression by the enemy, the raising up of a deliverer, the gleam +of brightness which dies with him, and then, _da capo_, 'the +children of Israel did evil,' and all the rest as before. The names +change, but the incidents are the same. There is something extremely +impressive in this uniformity of the plan of the book, which thus sets +in so strong light the persistence through generations of the same bad +strain in the nation's blood, and the unwearying patience of God. The +story of these successive recurrences of the same sequence of events +occupies the book to the end of chapter xvi., and the remainder of it +is taken up with two wild stories deeply stained with the lawlessness +and moral laxity of these anarchic times. We may best bring out the +force of this summary by considering in their order the four stages +signalised. + +I. The first is the continual tendency to relapse into idolatry. The +fact itself, and the frank prominence given to it in the Old Testament, +are both remarkable. As to the latter, certainly, if the Old Testament +histories have the same origin as the chronicles of other nations, they +present most anomalous features. Where do we find any other people +whose annals contain nothing that can minister to national vanity, and +have for one of their chief themes the sins of the nation? The history +of Israel, as told in Scripture, is one long indictment of Israel. The +peculiarity is explicable, if we believe that, whoever or how numerous +soever its authors, God was its true Author, as He is its true theme, +and that the object of its histories is not to tell the deeds of +Israel, but those of God for Israel. + +As to the fact of the continual relapses into idolatry, nothing could +be more natural than that the recently received and but imperfectly +assimilated revelation of the one God, with its stringent requirements +of purity, and its severe prohibition of idols, should easily slip off +from these rude and merely outward worshippers. Joshua's death without +a successor, the dispersion of the tribes, the difficulty of +communication when much of the country was still in the hands of its +former possessors, would all weaken the sense of unity, which was too +recent to be firm, and would expose the isolated Israelites to the full +force of the temptation to idolatry. It is difficult for us fairly to +judge the immense strain required for resistance to it. The conception +of one sole God was too high to be easily retained. A shrine without a +deity seemed bare and empty. The Law stringently bridled passions which +the hideous worship of the Canaanites stimulated. No wonder that, when +the first generation of the conquerors had passed away, their +successors lapsed into the universal polytheism, with its attendant +idolatry and immorality. Instead of thinking of the Israelites as +monsters of ingratitude and backsliding, we come nearer the truth, and +make a better use of the history, when we see in it a mirror which +shows us our own image. The strong earthward pull is ever acting on us, +and, unless God hold us up, we too shall slide downwards. 'Hath a +nation changed their gods, which yet are no gods? but My people hath +changed their glory for that which doth not profit.' Idolatry and +worldliness are persistent; for they are natural. Firm adherence to God +is less common, because it goes against the strong forces, within and +without, which bind us to earth. + +Apparently the relapses into idolatry did not imply the entire +abandonment of the worship of Jehovah, but the worship of Baalim and +Ashtaroth along with it. Such illegitimate mixing up of deities was +accordant with the very essence of polytheism, and repugnant to that of +the true worship of God. The one may be tolerant, the other cannot be. +To unite Baal with Jehovah was to forsake Jehovah. + +These continual relapses have an important bearing on the question of +the origin of the 'Jewish conception of God.' They are intelligible +only if we take the old-fashioned explanation, that its origin was a +divine revelation, given to a rude people. They are unintelligible if +we take the new-fashioned explanation that the monotheism of Israel was +the product of natural evolution, or was anything but a treasure put by +God into their hands, which they did not appreciate, and would +willingly have thrown away. The foul Canaanitish worship was the kind +of thing in which, if left to themselves, they would have wallowed. How +came such people by such thoughts as these? The history of Israel's +idolatry is not the least conclusive proof of the supernatural +revelation which made Israel's religion. + +II. Note the swift-following retribution. We have two sections in the +context dealing with this, each introduced by that terrible phrase, +which recurs so often in the subsequent parts of the book, 'The anger +of the Lord was kindled against Israel.' That phrase is no sign of a +lower conception of God than that which the gospel brings. Wrath is an +integral part of love, when the lover is perfectly righteous and the +loved are sinful. The most terrible anger is the anger of perfect +gentleness, as expressed in that solemn paradox of the Apostle of love, +when he speaks of 'the wrath of the Lamb.' God was angry with Israel +because He loved them, and desired their love for their own good. The +fact of His choice of the nation for His own and the intensity of His +love were shown no less by the swift certainty with which suffering +dogged sin, than by the blessings which crowned obedience. The first +section, referring to the punishment, is in verses 14 and 15, which +seems to describe mainly the defeats and plunderings which outside +surrounding nations inflicted. The brief description is extraordinarily +energetic. It ascribes all their miseries to God's direct act. He +'delivered' them over, or, as the next clause says still more strongly, +'sold' them, to plunderers, who stripped them bare. Their defeats were +the result of His having thus ceased to regard them as His. But though +He had 'sold' them, He had not done with them; for it was not only the +foeman's hand that struck them, but God's 'hand was against them,' and +its grip crushed them. His judgments were not occasional, but +continuous, and went with them 'whithersoever they went out.' +Everything went wrong with them; there were no gleams breaking the +black thunder-cloud. God's anger darkened the whole sky, and blasted +the whole earth. And the misery was the more miserable and awful +because it had all been foretold, and in it God was but doing 'as He +had said' and sworn. It is a dreadful picture of the all-withering +effect of God's anger,--a picture which is repeated in inmost verity in +many an outwardly prosperous life to-day. + +The second section is in verses 20-23, and describes the consequence of +Israel's relapse in reference to the surviving Canaanite and other +tribes in the land itself. Note that 'nation' in verse 20 is the term +usually applied, not to Israel, but to the Gentile peoples; and that +its use here seems equivalent to cancelling the choice of Israel as +God's special possession, and reducing them to the level of the other +nations in Canaan, to whom the same term is applied in verse 21. The +stern words which are here put into the mouth of God may possibly refer +to the actual message recorded in the first verses of the chapter; but, +more probably, 'the Lord said' does not here mean any divine +communication, but only the divine resolve, conceived as spoken to +himself. It embodies the divine _lex talionis_. The punishment is +analogous to the crime. Israel had broken the covenant; God would not +keep His promise. That involves a great principle as to all God's +promises,--that they are all conditional, and voidable by men's failure +to fulfil their conditions. Observe, too, that the punishment is the +retention of the occasions of the sin. Is not that, too, a law of the +divine procedure to-day? Whips to scourge us are made of our pleasant +vices. Sin is the punishment of sin. If we yield to some temptation, +part of the avenging retribution is that the temptation abides by us, +and has power over us. The 'Canaanites' whom we have allowed to lead us +astray will stay beside us when their power to seduce us is done, and +will pull off their masks and show themselves for what they are, our +spoilers and foes. + +The rate of Israel's conquest was determined by Israel's faithful +adherence to God. That is a standing law. Victory for us in all the +good fight of life depends on our cleaving to Him, and forsaking all +other. + +The divine motive, if we may so say, in leaving the unsubdued nations +in the land, was to provide the means of proving Israel. Would it not +have been better, since Israel was so weak, to secure for it an +untempted period? Surely, it is a strange way of helping a man who has +stumbled, to make provision that future occasions of stumbling shall +lie in his path. But so the perfect wisdom which is perfect love ever +ordains. There shall be no unnatural greenhouse shelter provided for +weak plants. The liability to fall imposes the necessity of trial, but +the trial does not impose the necessity of falling! The Devil tempts, +because he hopes that we shall fall. God tries, in order that we may +stand, and that our feet may be strengthened by the trial. 'I cannot +praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, +that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the +race, where that immortal garland is to be run for,--not without dust +and heat.' + +III. Respite and deliverance are described in verses 16 and 18. The +Revised Version has wisely substituted a simple 'and' for +'nevertheless' at the beginning of verse 16. The latter word implies +that the raising up of the judges was a reversal of what had gone +before; 'and' implies that it was a continuation. And its use here is +not merely an instance of inartificial Hebrew style, but carries the +lesson that God's judgment and deliverance come from the same source, +and are harmonious parts of one educational process. Nor is this +thought negatived by the statement in verse 18 that 'it repented the +Lord.' That strong metaphorical ascription to Him of human emotion +simply implies that His action, which of necessity is the expression of +His will, was changed. The will of the moment before had been to +punish; the will of the next moment was to deliver, because their +'groaning' showed that the punishment had done its work. But the two +wills were one in ultimate purpose, and the two sets of acts were +equally and harmoniously parts of one design. The surgeon is carrying +out one plan when he cuts deep into the quivering flesh, and when he +sews up the wounds which he himself has made. God's deliverances are +linked to His chastisements by 'and,' not by 'nevertheless.' We need +not discuss that remarkable series of judges, who were champions rather +than the peaceful functionaries whom we understand by the name. The +vivid and stirring stories associated with their names make the bulk of +this book, and move the most peace-loving among us like the sound of a +trumpet. These wild warriors, with many a roughness and flaw in their +characters, of whom no saintly traits are recorded, are yet treated in +this section as directly inspired, and as continually upheld by God. +The writer of the _Epistle to the Hebrews_ claims some of them as +heroes of 'faith.' And one chief lesson for us to learn, as we look on +the strange garb in which in them faith has arrayed itself, and the +strange work which it does in nerving hands to strike with sharp +swords, is the oneness of the principle amid the most diverse +manifestations, and the nobleness and strength which the sense of +belonging to God and reliance on His help breathe into the rudest life +and shed over the wildest scenes. + +These judges were raised up indiscriminately from different tribes. +They belonged to different ranks, and were of different occupations. +One of them was a woman. The when and the where and the how of their +appearance were incalculable. They authenticated their commission by no +miracles except victory. For a time they started to the front, and then +passed, leaving no successors, and founding no dynasty. They were an +entirely unique order, plainly raised up by God, and drawing all their +power from Him. Let us be thankful for the weaknesses, and even sins, +recorded of some of them, and for the boldness with which the book +traces the physical strength of a Samson, in spite of his wild +animalism, and the bravery of a Jephthah, notwithstanding his savage +vow and subsequent lapse into idolatry, to God's inspiration. Their +faith was limited, and acted but imperfectly on their moral nature; but +it was true faith, in the judgment of the _Epistle to the +Hebrews_. Their work was rough and bloody, and they were rough +tools, as such work needed; but it was God's work, and He had made them +for His instruments, in the judgment of the Book of _Judges_. If +we try to understand the reasons for such judgments, we may learn some +useful lessons. + +IV. A word only can be given to the last stage in the dreary round. It +comes back to the first. The religion of the delivered people lasted as +long as the judge's life. When he died, it died. There is intense +bitterness in the remark to that effect in verse 19. Did God then die +with the judge? Was it Samson, or Jehovah, that had delivered? Why +should the death of the instrument affect gratitude to the hand that +gave it its edge? What a lurid light is thrown back on the unreality of +the people's return to God by their swift relapse! If it needed a human +hand to keep them from departing, had they ever come near? We may press +the questions on ourselves; for none of us knows how much of our +religion is owing to the influence of men upon us, or how much of it +would drop away if we were left to ourselves. + +This miserable repetition of the same weary round of sin, punishment, +respite, and renewed sin, sets in a strong light the two great wonders +of man's obstinate persistency in unfaithfulness and sin, and of God's +unwearied persistency in discipline and patient forgiveness. His +charity 'suffers long and is kind, is not easily provoked.' We can +weary out all forbearance but His, which is endless. We weary Him +indeed, but we do not weary Him out, with our iniquities. Man's sin +stretches far; but God's patient love overlaps it. It lasts long; but +God's love is eternal. It resists miracles of chastisement and love; +but He does not cease His use of the rod and the staff. We can tire out +all other forbearance, but not His. And however old and obstinate our +rebellion, He waits to pardon, and smites but to heal. + + + + +RECREANT REUBEN + + +'Why satest then among the sheepfolds, to hear the pipings for the +flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of +heart.'--JUDGES v. 16 (R.V.). + + +I. The fight. + +The warfare is ever repeated, though in new forms. In the highest form +it is Christ _versus_ the World, And that conflict must be fought +out in our own souls first. Our religion should lead not only to accept +and rely on what Christ does for us, but to do and dare for Christ. He +has given Himself for us, and has thereby won the right to recruit us +as His soldiers. We have to fight against ourselves to establish His +reign over ourselves. + +And then we have to give our personal service in the great battle for +right and truth, for establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth. There +come national crises when every man must take up arms, but in Christ's +kingdom that is a permanent obligation. There the nation is the army. +Each subject is not only His servant but His soldier. The metaphor is +well worn, but it carries everlasting truth, and to take it seriously +to heart would revolutionise our lives. + +II. The reason for standing aloof. Reuben 'abode in the sheepfolds to +hear the pipings to the flocks.' For Dan his ships, for Asher his +havens held them apart. Reuben and the other trans-Jordanic tribes held +loosely by the national unity. They had fallen in love with an easy +life of pastoral wealth, they did not care to venture anything for the +national good. It is still too true that like reasons are largely +operative in producing like results. It is seldom from the wealthy and +leisurely classes that the bold fighters for great social reformations +are recruited. Times of commercial prosperity are usually times of +stagnation in regard to these. Reuben lies lazily listening to the +'drowsy tinklings' that 'lull' not only 'the distant folds' but himself +to inglorious slumber, while Zebulon and Naphtali are 'venturing their +lives on the high places of the field.' The love of ease enervates many +a one who should be doing valiantly for the 'Captain of his salvation.' +The men of Reuben cared more for their sheep than for their nation. +They were not minded to hazard these by listening to Deborah's call. +And what their flocks were to that pastoral tribe, their business is to +shoals of professing Christians. The love of the world depletes the +ranks of Christ's army, and they are comparatively few who stick by the +colours and are 'ready, aye ready' for service, as the brave motto of +one English regiment has it. The lives of multitudes of so-called +Christians are divided between strained energy in their business or +trade or profession and self-regarding repose. No doubt competition is +fierce, and, no doubt, a Christian man is bound, 'whatsoever his hand +finds to do, to do it with his might,' and, no doubt, rest is as much a +duty as work. But must not loyalty to Jesus have become tepid, if a +servant of His has so little interest in the purposes for which He gave +His life that he can hear no call to take active part in promoting +them, nor find rest in the work by which he becomes a fellow-worker +with his Lord? + +III. The recreant's brave resolves which came to nothing. The indignant +question of our text is, as it were, framed between two clauses which +contrast Reuben's indolent holding aloof with his valorous resolves. +'By the watercourses of Reuben there were great resolves of heart.' ... +'At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.' +Resolves came first, but they were not immediately acted on, and as the +Reubenites sate among the sheepfolds and felt the charm of their +peaceful lives, the 'native hue of resolution was sicklied o'er,' and +doubts of the wisdom of their gallant determination crept in, and their +valour oozed out. And so for all their fine resolves, they had no share +in the fight nor in the triumph. + +So let us lay the warning of that example to heart, and if we are +stirred by noble impulses to take our place in the ranks of the +fighters for God, let us act on these at once. Emotions evaporate very +soon if they are not used to drive the wheels of conduct. The Psalmist +was wise who 'delayed not, but made haste and delayed not to keep God's +commandments.' Many a man has over and over again resolved to serve God +in some specific fashion, and to enlist in the 'effective force' of +Christ's army, and has died without ever having done it. + +IV. The question in the hour of victory. 'Why?' + +Deborah asks it with vehement contempt. + +That victory is certain. Are _you_ to have part in it? + +The question will be asked on the judgment day by Christ, and by our +own consciences. 'And he was speechless.' + +To be neutral is to be on the side of the enemy, against whom the +'stars fight,' and whom Kishon sweeps away. + +'Who is on the Lord's side?'--Who? + + + + +'ALL THINGS ARE YOURS' + +'They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against +Sisera.'--JUDGES v. 20. + + +'For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the +beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.'--Job v. 23. + +These two poetical fragments present the same truth on opposite sides. +The first of them comes from Deborah's triumphant chant. The singer +identifies God with the cause of Israel, and declares that heaven +itself fought against those who fought against God's people. There may +be an allusion to the tempest which Jewish tradition tells us burst +over the ranks of the enemy, or there may be some trace of ancient +astrological notions, or the words may simply be an elevated way of +saying that Heaven fought for Israel. The silent stars, as they swept +on their paths through the sky, advanced like an avenging host +embattled against the foes of Israel and of God. All things fight +against the man who fights against God. + +The other text gives the other side of the same truth. One of Job's +friends is rubbing salt into his wounds by insisting on the +commonplace, which needs a great many explanations and limitations +before it can be accepted as true, that sin is the cause of sorrow, and +that righteousness brings happiness; and in the course of trying to +establish this heartless thesis to a heavy heart he breaks into a +strain of the loftiest poetry in describing the blessedness of the +righteous. All things, animate and inanimate, are upon his side. The +ground, which Genesis tells us is 'cursed for his sake,' becomes his +ally, and the very creatures whom man's sin set at enmity against him +are at peace with him. All things are the friends and servants of him +who is the friend and servant of God. + +I. So, putting these two texts together, we have first the great +conviction to which religion clings, that God being on our side all +things are for us, and not against us. + +Now, that is the standing faith of the Old Testament, which no doubt +was more easily held in those days, because, if we accept its teaching, +we shall recognise that Israel lived under a system in so far +supernatural as that moral goodness and material prosperity were a +great deal more closely and indissolubly connected than they are to- +day. So, many a psalmist and many a prophet breaks out into +apostrophes, warranted by the whole history of Israel, and declaring +how blessed are the men who, apart from all other defences and sources +of prosperity, have God for their help and Him for their hope. + +But we are not to dismiss this conviction as belonging only to a system +where the supernatural comes in, as it does in the Old Testament +history, and as antiquated under a dispensation such as that in which +we live. For the New Testament is not a whit behind the Old in +insisting upon this truth. 'All things work together for good to them +that love God.' 'All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ +is God's.' 'Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that +which is good?' The New Testament is committed to the same conviction +as that to which the faith of Old Testament saints clung as the sheet +anchor of their lives. + +That conviction cannot be struck out of the creed of any man, who +believes in the God to whom the Old and the New Testament alike bear +witness. For it rests upon this plain principle, that all this great +universe is not a chaos, but a cosmos, that all these forces and +creatures are not a rabble, but an ordered host. + +What is the meaning of that great Name by which, from of old, God in +His relations to the whole universe has been described--the 'Lord of +Hosts'? Who are the 'hosts' of which He is 'the Lord,' and to whom, as +the centurion said, He says to this one, 'Go!' and he goeth; and to +another, 'Come!' and he cometh; and to another, 'Do this!' and he doeth +it? Who are 'the hosts'? Not only these beings who are dimly revealed +to us as rational and intelligent, who 'excel in strength,' because +they 'hearken to the voice of His word', but in the ranks of that great +army are also embattled all the forces of the universe, and all things +living or dead. 'All are Thy servants; they continue this day'--angels, +stars, creatures of earth--' according to Thine ordinances.' + +And if it be true that the All is an ordered whole, which is obedient +to the touch and to the will of that divine Commander, then all His +servants must be on the same side, and cannot turn their arms against +each other. As an old hymn says with another reference-- + + 'All the servants of our King + In heaven and earth are one,' + +and none of them can injure, wound, or slay a fellow-servant. If all +are travelling in the same direction there can be no collision. If all +are enlisted under the same standard they can never turn their weapons +against each other. If God sways all things, then all things which God +sways must be on the side of the men that are on the side of God. 'Thou +shalt make a league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the +field shall be at peace with thee.' + +II, Note the difficulties arising from experience, in the way of +holding fast by this conviction of faith. + +The grim facts of the world, seen from their lowest level, seem to +shatter it to atoms. Talk about 'the stars in their courses fighting' +for or against anybody! In one aspect it is superstition, in another +aspect it is a dream and an illusion. The prose truth is that they +shine down silent, pitiless, cold, indifferent, on battlefields or on +peaceful homes; and the moonlight is as pure when it falls upon broken +hearts as when it falls upon glad ones. Nature is utterly indifferent +to the moral or the religious character of its victims. It goes on its +way unswerving and pitiless; and whether the man who stands in its path +is good or bad matters not. If he gets into a typhoon he will be +wrecked; if he tumbles over Niagara he will be drowned. And what +becomes of all the talk about an embattled universe on the side of +goodness, in the face of the plain facts of life--of nature's +indifference, nature's cruelty which has led some men to believe in two +sovereign powers, one beneficent and one malicious, and has led others +to say, 'God is a superfluous hypothesis, and to believe in Him brings +more enigmas than it solves,' and has led still others to say, 'Why, if +there _is_ a God, does it look as if either He was not all- +powerful, or was not all-merciful?' Nature has but ambiguous evidence +to give in support of this conviction. + +Then, if we turn to what we call Providence and its mysteries, the very +book of Job, from which my second text is taken, is one of the earliest +attempts to grapple with the difficulty and to untie the knot; and I +suppose everybody will admit that, whatever may be the solution which +is suggested by that enigmatical book, the solution is by no means a +complete one, though it is as complete as the state of religious +knowledge at the time at which the book was written made possible to be +attained. The seventy-third psalm shows that even in that old time +when, as I have said, supernatural sanctions were introduced into the +ordinary dealings of life, the difficulties that cropped up were great +enough to bring a devout heart to a stand, and to make the Psalmist +say, 'My feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped.' +Providence, with all its depths and mysteries, often to our aching +hearts seems in our own lives to contradict the conviction, and when we +look out over the sadness of humanity, still more does it seem +impossible for us to hold fast by the faith 'that all which we behold +is full of blessings.' + +I doubt not that there are many of ourselves whose lives, shadowed, +darkened, hemmed in, perplexed, or made solitary for ever, seem to them +to be hard to reconcile with this cheerful faith upon which I am trying +to insist. Brethren, cling to it even in the darkness. Be sure of this, +that amongst all our mercies there are none more truly merciful than +those which come to us shrouded in dark garments, and in questionable +shapes. Let nothing rob us of the confidence that 'all things work +together for good.' + +III. I come, lastly, to consider the higher form in which this +conviction is true for ever. + +I have said that the facts of life seem often to us, and are felt often +by some of us, to shatter it to atoms; to riddle it through and through +with shot. But, if we bring the Pattern-life to bear upon the +illumination of all life, and if we learn the lessons of the Cradle and +the Cross, and rise to the view of human life which emerges from the +example of Jesus Christ, then we get back the old conviction, +transfigured indeed, but firmer than ever. We have to alter the point +of view. Everything always depends on the point of view. We have to +alter one or two definitions. Definitions come first in geometry and in +everything else. Get _them_ right, and you will get your theorems +and problems right. + +So, looking at life in the light of Christ, we have to give new +contents to the two words 'good' and 'evil,' and a new meaning to the +two words 'for' and 'against.' And when we do that, then the +difficulties straighten themselves out, and there are not any more +knots, but all is plain; and the old faith of the Old Testament, which +reposed very largely upon abnormal and extraordinary conditions of +life, comes back in a still nobler form, as possible to be held by us +amidst the commonplace of our daily existence. + +For everything is my friend, is for me and not against me, that helps +me nearer to God. To live for Him, to live with Him, to be conscious +ever of communion with Himself, to feel the touch of His hand on my +hand, and the pressure of His breast against mine, at all moments of my +life, is my true and the highest good. And if it is true that the +'river of the water of life' which 'flows from the Throne of God' is +the only draught that can ever satisfy the immortal thirst of a soul, +then whatever drives me away from the cisterns and to the fountain, is +on my side. Better to dwell in a 'dry and thirsty land, where no water +is,' if it makes me long for the water that rises at the gate of the +true Bethlehem--the house of bread--than to dwell in a land flowing +with milk and honey, and well watered in every part! If the cup that I +would fain lift to my lips has poison in it, or if its sweetness is +making me lose my relish for the pure and tasteless river that flows +from the Throne of God, there can be no truer friend than that +calamity, as men call it, which strikes the cup from my hands, and +shivers the glass before I have raised it to my lips. Everything is my +friend that helps me towards God. + +Everything is my friend that leads me to submission and obedience. The +joy of life, and the perfection of human nature, is an absolutely +submitted will, identified with the divine, both in regard to doing and +to enduring. And whatever tends to make my will flexible, so that it +corresponds to all the sinuosities, so to speak, of the divine will, +and fits into all its bends and turns, is a blessing to me. Raw hides, +stiff with dirt and blood, are put into a bath of bitter infusion of +oak-bark. What for? For the same end as, when they are taken out, they +are scraped with sharp steels,--that they may become flexible. When +that is done the useless hide is worth something. + + 'Our wills are ours, we know not how; + Our wills are ours, to make them Thine.' + +And whatever helps me to that is my friend. + +Everything is a friend to the man that loves God, in a far sweeter and +deeper sense than it can ever be to any other. Like a sudden burst of +sunshine upon a gloomy landscape, the light of union with God and +friendship with Him flooding my daily life flashes it all up into +brightness. The dark ribbon of the river that went creeping through the +black copses, when the sun glints upon it, gleams up into links of +silver, and the trees by its bank blaze out into green and gold. +Brethren! 'Who follows pleasure follows pain'; who follows God finds +pleasure following him. There can be no surer way to set the world +against me than to try to make it for me, and to make it my all They +tell us that if you want to count those stars that 'like a swarm of +fire-flies tangled in a silver braid' make up the Pleiades, the surest +way to see the greatest number of them is to look a little on one side +of them. Look away from the joys and friendships of creatural things +right up to God, and you will see these sparkling and dancing in the +skies, as you never see them when you gaze at them only. Make them +second and they are good and on your side. Make them first, and they +will turn to be your enemies and fight against you. + +This conviction will be established still more irrefragably and +wonderfully in that future. Nothing lasts but goodness. 'He that doeth +the will of God abideth for ever.' To oppose it is like stretching a +piece of pack-thread across the rails before the express comes; or +putting up some thin wooden partition on the beach on one of the +Western Hebrides, exposed to the whole roll of the Atlantic, which will +be battered into ruin by the first winter's storm. Such is the end of +all those who set themselves against God. + +But there comes a future in which, as dim hints tell us, these texts of +ours shall receive a fulfilment beyond that realised in the present +condition of things. 'Then comes the statelier Eden back to man,' and +in a renewed and redeemed earth 'they shall not hurt nor destroy in all +My holy mountain'; and the ancient story will be repeated in higher +form. The servants shall be like the Lord who, when He had conquered +temptation, 'was with the wild beasts' that forgot their enmity, and +'angels ministered unto Him.' That scene in the desert may serve as a +prophecy of the future when, under conditions of which we know nothing, +all God's servants shall, even more markedly and manifestly than here, +help each other; and every man that loves God will find a friend in +every creature. + +If we take Him for our Commander, and enlist ourselves in that +embattled host, then all weathers will be good; 'stormy winds, +fulfilling His word,' will blow us to our port; 'the wilderness will +rejoice and blossom as the rose'; and the whole universe will be +radiant with the light of His presence, and ringing with the music of +His voice. But if we elect to join the other army--for there is another +army, and men have wills that enable them to lift themselves up against +God, the Ruler of all things--then the old story, from which my first +text is taken, will fulfil itself again in regard to us--'the stars in +their courses will fight against' us; and Sisera, lying stiff and +stark, with Jael's tent-peg through his temples, and the swollen +corpses being swirled down to the stormy sea by 'that ancient river, +the river Kishon,' will be a grim parable of the end of the men that +set themselves against God, and so have the universe against them. +'Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.' + + + + +LOVE MAKES SUNS +'Let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.' +JUDGES V. 51. + + +These are the closing words of Deborah, the great warrior-prophetess of +Israel. They are in singular contrast with the tone of fierce +enthusiasm for battle which throbs through the rest of the chant, and +with its stern approval of the deed of Jael when she slew Sisera. Here, +in its last notes, we have an anticipation of the highest and best +truths of the Gospel. 'Let them that love Him be as the sun when he +goeth forth in His might.' If we think of the singer, of the age and +the occasion of the song, such purely spiritual, lofty words must seem +very remarkable. + +I. Note, then, first of all, how here we have a penetrating insight +into the essence of religion. + +This woman had been nourished upon a more or less perfect edition of +what we know as the 'Mosaic Law.' Her faith had been fed by forms. She +moved amidst a world full of the cruelties and dark conceptions of a +mysterious divine power which torture heathenism apart from +Christianity. She had forced her way through all that, and laid hold of +the vital centre. And there, a way out amidst cruelty and murder, +amidst the unutterable abominations and terrors of heathenism, in the +centre of a rigid system of ceremonial and retaliation, the woman's +heart spoke out, and taught her what was the great commandment. +Prophetess she was, fighter she was, she could burst into triumphant +approval of Jael's bloody deed; and yet with the same lips could speak +this profound word. She had learned that 'Thou shalt _love_ the +Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all +thy strength, and with all thy mind,' summed up all duty, and was the +beginning of all good in man. That precept found an echo in her heart. +Whatever part in her religious development may have been played by the +externalisms of ceremonial, she had pierced to the core of religion. +Advanced modern critics admit the antiquity of Deborah's song, and this +closing stanza witnesses to the existence, at that early period, of a +highly spiritual conception of the bond between God and man. Deborah +had got as far, in a moment of exaltation and insight, as the teaching +of the Apostle John, although her thought was strangely blended with +the fierceness of the times in which she lived. Her approval of Jael's +deed by no means warrants our approving it, but we may thankfully see +that though she felt the fierce throbbing of desire for vengeance, she +also felt this--'Them that _love_ Him; that is the Alpha and the +Omega of all.' + +Our love must depend on our knowledge. Deborah's knowledge was a mere +skeleton outline as compared with ours. Contrast the fervour of +emotional affection that manifestly throbbed in her heart with the +poor, cold pulsations which we dignify by the name of love, and the +contrast may put us to shame. There is a religion of fear which +dominates hundreds of professing Christians in this land of ours. There +is a religion of duty, in which there is no delight, which has many +adherents amongst us. There is a religion of form, which contents +itself with the externals of Christianity, and that is the religion of +many men and women in all our churches. And I may further say, there is +a religion of faith, in its narrower and imperfect sense, which lays +hold of and believes a body of Christian truth, and has never passed +through faith into love. Not he who 'believes that God is,' and comes +to Him with formal service and an alienated or negligent heart; not he +who recognises the duty of worship, and discharges it because his +conscience pricks him, but has no buoyancy within bearing him upwards +towards the object of his love; not he who cowers before the dark +shadow which some call God; but he who, knowing, trusts, and who, +knowing and trusting 'the love which God hath to us,' pulses back the +throbs of a recipient heart, and loves Him in return--he, and he only, +is a worshipper. Let us learn the lesson that Deborah learnt below the +palm-trees of Lapidoth, and if we want to understand what a religious +man is, recognise that he is a man who loves God. + +II. Further, note the grand conception of the character which such a +love produces. + +'Let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.' Think of the +fierce Eastern sun, with 'sunbeams like swords,' that springs up from +the East, and rushes to the zenith, and 'nothing is hid from the heat +thereof'--a sun the like of which we, in our cloudy skies, never see +nor feel, but which, to the Oriental, is the very emblem of splendour +and of continuous, victorious power. There are two things here, +radiance and energy, light and might. + +'As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength.' Deborah was a +'prophetess,' and people say, 'What did she prophesy?' Well, she +prophesied the heart of religion--as I have tried to show--in reference +to its essence, and, as one sees by this phrase, in reference to its +effects. What is her word but a partial anticipation of Christ's +saying, 'Ye are the light of the world'; and of His disciple's +utterance, 'Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the +Lord: walk as children of light'? + +It is too plain to need any talking about, that the direct tendency of +what we venture to call love to God, meaning thereby the turning of the +whole nature to Him, in aspiration, admiration, longing for likeness, +and practical imitation, is to elevate, ennoble, and illuminate the +whole character. It was said about one woman that 'to love her was an +education.' That was exaggeration; but it is below the truth about God. +The true way to refine and elevate and educate is to cultivate love to +God. And when we get near to Him, and hold by Him, and are continually +occupied with Him; when our being is one continual aspiration after +union with Him, and we experience the glow and rapture included in the +simple word 'love,' then it cannot but be that we shall be like Him. + +That is what Paul meant when he said, 'Now are ye light in the Lord.' +Union with Him illuminates. The true radiance of saintly character will +come in the measure in which we are in fellowship with Jesus Christ. +Deborah's astronomy was not her strong point. The sun shines by its own +light. We are planets, and are darkness in ourselves, and it is only +the reflection of the central sun that ever makes us look silvery white +and radiant before men. But though it be derived, it is none the less +our light, if it has passed into us, as it surely will, and if it +streams out from us, as it no less surely will, in the measure in which +love to God dominates our whole lives. + +If that is so, dear brethren, is not the shortest and the surest way to +have our faces shining like that of Moses when he came down from the +mountain, or like Stephen's when he 'saw the heavens opened,' to keep +near Jesus Christ? It is slow work to hammer bits of ore out of the +rock with a chisel and a mallet. Throw the whole mass into the furnace, +and the metal will come out separated from the dross. Get up the heat, +and the light, which is the consequence of the heat, will take care of +itself. 'In the Lord' ye shall be 'light.' + +Is Deborah's aspiration fulfilled about me? Let each of us ask that. +'As the sun when he goeth forth in his strength'--would anybody say +that about my Christian character? Why not? Only because the springs +have run low within is the stream low through the meadows. Only because +the love is cold is the light feeble. + +There is another thought here. There is power in sunlight as well as +radiance. On that truth the prophetess especially lays a finger; 'as +the sun when he goeth forth in his _strength_.' She did not know +what we know, that solar energy is the source of all energy on this +earth, and that, just as in the deepest spiritual analysis 'there is no +power but of God,' so in the material region we may say that the only +force is the force of the sun, which not only stimulates vegetation and +brings light and warmth--as the pre-scientific prophetess knew--but in +a hundred other ways, unknown to her and known to modern science, is +the author of all change, the parent of all life, and the reservoir of +all energy. + +So we come to this thought: The true love of God is no weak, +sentimental thing, such as narrow and sectional piety has often +represented it to be, but it is a power which will invigorate the whole +of a man, and make him strong and manly as well as gentle and gracious; +being, indeed, the parent of all the so-called heroic and of all the +so-called saintly virtues. + +The sun 'goeth forth in his strength,' rushing through the heavens to +the zenith. As one of the other editions of this metaphor in the Old +Testament has it, 'The path of the just is as the shining light, that +shineth more and more until the noontide of the day.' That light, +indeed, declines, but that fact does not come into view in the metaphor +of the progressive growth towards perfection of the man in whom is the +all-conquering might of the true love of Jesus Christ. + +Note the context of these words of our text, which, I said, presents so +singular a contrast to them. It is a strange thing that so fierce a +battle-chant should at the end settle down into such a sweet swan-song +as this. It is a strange thing that in the same soul there should throb +the delight in battle and almost the delight in murder, and these lofty +thoughts. But let us learn the lesson that true love to God means +hearty hatred of God's enemy, and that it will always have to be +militant and sometimes stern and what people call fierce. Amidst the +amenities and sentimentalities of modern life there is much necessity +for remembering that the Apostle of love was a 'son of thunder,' and +that it was the lips which summoned Israel to the fight, and chanted +hymns of triumph over the corpses borne down by the rushing Kishon, +which also said: 'Let them that love Him be as the sun when he shineth +forth in his strength.' If you love God, you will surely be a strong +man as well as an emotional and affectionate Christian. + +That energy is to be continuous and progressive. The sun that Deborah +saw day by day spring from his station in the east, and climb to his +height in the heavens, and ray down his beams, has been doing that for +millions of years, and it will probably keep doing it for uncounted +periods still. And so the Christian man, with continuity unbroken and +progressive brilliance and power, should shine 'more and more till the +unsetting noontide of the day.' + +III. That brings me to the last thought, which passes beyond the limits +of the prophetess' vision. Here is a prophecy of which the utterer was +unaware. + +There is a contrast drawn in the words of our text and in those +immediately preceding. "So," says Deborah, after the fierce description +of the slaughter of Sisera--'So let all Thine enemies perish, O Lord! +but let them that love Thee be as the sun when he shineth in his +strength.' She contrasts the transiency of the lives that pit +themselves against God with the perpetuity that belongs to those which +are in harmony with Him. The truth goes further than she probably knew; +certainly further than she was thinking when she chanted these words. +Let us widen them by other words which use the same metaphor, and say, +'they that be wise'--that is a shallower word than 'them that love +Thee'--'they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the +firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for +ever and ever.' Let us widen and deepen them by sacreder words still; +for Jesus Christ laid hold of this old metaphor, and said, describing +the time when all the enemies shall have perished, and the weeds have +been flung out of the vineyard, 'Then shall the righteous shine forth +like the sun, in the Kingdom of their Father,' with a brilliancy that +will fill heaven with new splendours, bright beyond all that we see +here amidst the thick atmosphere and mists and clouds of the present +life! + +Nor need we stop even there, for Jesus Christ not only laid hold of +this metaphor in order to describe the eternal glory of the children of +the Kingdom, but at the last time that human eyes on earth saw Him, the +glorified Man Christ Jesus is thus described: 'His countenance was as +the sun shineth in his strength.' Love always tends to likeness; and +love to Christ will bring conformity with Him. The perfect love of +heaven will issue in perfect and perpetual assimilation to Him. Science +tells us that the light of the sun probably comes from its contraction; +and that that process of contraction will go on until, at some point +within the bounds of time, though far beyond the measure of our +calculations, the sun himself shall die, the ineffectual beams will be +paled, and there will be a black orb, with neither life nor light nor +power. And then, then, and after that for ever, 'they that love Him' +shall continue to be as that dead sun once was, when he went forth in +his hot might. + + + + +GIDEON'S ALTAR + +'Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah- +shalom [God is peace].'--JUDGES vi. 24. + + +I need not tell over again, less vividly, the picturesque story in this +chapter, of the simple husbandman up in the hills, engaged furtively in +threshing out a little wheat in some hollow in the rock where he might +hide it from the keen eyes of the oppressors; and of how the angel of +the Lord, unrecognised at first, appeared to him; and gradually there +dawned upon his mind the suspicion of who He was who spoke. Then follow +the offering, the discovery by fire, the shrinking of the man from +contact with the divine, the wonderfully tranquillizing and +condescending assurance, cast into the form of the ordinary salutation +of domestic life: 'And the Lord said unto him Peace be unto thee!'--as +any man might have said to any other--'fear not! thou shalt not die.' +Then Gideon piles up the unhewn stones on the hillside into a rude +altar, apparently not for the purpose of offering sacrifice, but for a +monument, to which is given this strange name, strange upon such +warrior lips, and strange in contemplation of the fierce conflict into +which he was immediately to plunge, 'the Lord is peace.' + +How I think that this name, imposed for such a reason and under such +circumstances, may teach us a good many things. + +I. The first thing that it seems to me to suggest is the great +discovery which this man had made, and in the rapture of which he named +his altar,--that the sight of God is _not_ death, but life and +peace. + +Gideon was a plain, rude man, with no very deep religious experience. +Apparently up to the moment of this vision he had been contentedly +tolerating the idolatrous practices which had spread over all the +country. He had heard of 'Jehovah.' It was a name, a tradition, which +his fathers had told him. That was all that he knew of the God of +Israel. Into this hearsay religion, as in a flash, while Gideon is busy +about his threshing floor, thinking of his wheat or of the misery of +his nation, there comes, all at once, this crushing conviction,--'the +_hearsay_ God is beside you, speaking to you! You have personal +relations to Him, He is nearer you than any human being is, He is no +mere Name, here He stands!' + +And whenever the lightning edge of a conviction like that cuts its way +through the formalisms and traditionalisms and hearsay repetitions of +conventional religion, then there comes what came to Gideon, the swift +thought, 'And if this be true, if I really do touch, and am touched by, +that living Person whose name is Jehovah, what is to become of me? +Shall I not shrivel up when His fiery finger is laid upon me? I have +seen Him face to face, and I must die.' + +I believe that, in the case of the vast majority of men, the first +living, real apprehension of a real, living God is accompanied with a +shock, and has mingled with it something of awe, and even of terror. +Were there no sin there would be no fear, and pure hearts would open in +silent blessedness and yield their sweetest fragrance of love and +adoration, when shone on by Him, as flowers do to the kiss of the +sunbeams. But, taking into account the sad and universal fact of sin, +it is inevitable that men should shrink from the Light which reveals +their evil, and that the consciousness of God's presence should strike +a chill. It is sad that it should be so. But it is sadder still when it +is not so, but when, as is sometimes the case, the sight of God +produces no sense of sin, and no consciousness of discord, or +foreboding of judgment. For, only through that valley of the shadow of +death lies the path to the happy confidence of peace with God, and +unless there has been trembling at the beginning, there will be no firm +and reasonable trust afterwards. + +For Gideon's terror opened the way for the gracious proclamation, which +would have been needless but for it--'Peace be unto thee; fear not, +thou shalt not die.' + +The sight of God passes from being a fear to a joy, from being a +fountain of death to a spring of life, Terror is turned to tranquil +trust. The narrow and rough path of conscious unworthiness leads to the +large place of happy peace. The divine word fits Gideon's condition, +and corresponds to his then deepest necessity; and so he drinks it in +as the thirsty ground drinks in the water; and in the rapture of the +discovery that the Name, that had come down from his fathers to him, +was the Name of a real Person, with whom he stood in real +relationships, and those of simple friendship and pure amity, he piles +up the rough stones of the place, and makes the name of his altar the +echo of the divine voice. It is as if he had said with rapture of +surprise, 'Then Jehovah _is_ peace; which I never dreamed of +before.' + +Dear friends, do you know anything of such an experience? Can you build +your altar, and give it this same name? Can you write upon the memorial +of your experiences, 'The Lord is my peace'? Have you passed from +hearsay into personal contact? Can you say, 'I have heard of Thee by +the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee'? Do you know the +further experience expressed in the subsequent words of the same +quotation: 'Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes'? +And have you passed out of that stormy ocean of terror and self- +condemnation into the quiet haven of trust in Him in whom we have peace +with God, where your little boat lies quiet, moored for ever to the +Rock of Ages, to 'Jehovah, who is Peace'? + +In connection with this rapturous discovery, and to Gideon strange new +thought, we may gather the lesson that peace with God will give peace +in all the soul. The 'peace with God' will pass into a wider thing, the +'peace of God.' There is tranquillity in trust. There is rest in +submission. There is repose in satisfied desires. When we live near +Him, and have ceased from our own works, and let Him take control of us +and direct us in all our ways, then the storms abate. The things that +disturb us are by no means so much external as inward; and there is a +charm and a fascination in the thought, 'the Lord is peace,' which +stills the inward tempest, and makes us quiet, waiting upon His will +and drawing in His grace. The secret of rest is to cease from self, +from self as guide, from self as aim, from self as safety. And when +self-will is cast out, and self-dependence is overcome, and self- +reliance is sublimed into hanging upon God's hand, and when He, not +mine own inclination, is my Director, and the Arbiter of my fate, then +all the fever of unrest is swept wholly out of my heart, and there is +nothing left in it on which the gnawing tooth of anxiety or of care can +prey. God being my peace, and I yielding myself to Him, 'in quietness +and confidence' is my 'strength.' 'Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace +whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.' + +II. We may look upon this inscription from another point of view, as +suggesting the thought that God's peace is the best preparation for, +and may be experienced in the midst of, the intensest conflict. + +Remember what the purpose of this vision was,--to raise up a man to +fight an almost desperate fight, no metaphorical war, but one with real +sharp swords, against real strong enemies. The first blow in the +campaign was to be struck that night. Gideon was being summoned by the +vision, to long years of hardship and bitter warfare, and his +preparation for the conflict consisted largely in the revelation to his +inmost spirit that 'Jehovah is peace.' We might rather have looked for +a manifestation of the divine nature as ready to go forth to battle +with the raw levies of timid peasants. We should have expected the +thought which inspired their captain to have been 'The Lord is a man of +war,' rather than 'The Lord is peace.' But it is not so--and therein +lies the deep truth that the peace of God is the best preparation for +strife. It gives courage, it leaves the heart at leisure to fling all +its power into the conflict, it inspires with the consciousness of a +divine ally. As Paul puts it, in his picture of the fully-armed +Christian soldier, the feet are 'shod with the preparedness of alacrity +which is produced by the gospel of peace.' That will make us 'ready, +aye ready' for the roughest march, and enable us to stand firm against +the most violent charges of the enemy. There is no such preparation for +the conflict of life, whether it be waged against our own inward evil, +or against opposing forces without, as to have deep within the soul the +settled and substantial peace of God. If we are to come out of the +battle with victory sitting on our helmets, we must go into it with the +Dove of God brooding in our hearts. As the Lord said to Gideon, 'Go in +_this_ thy might, and thou shalt save Israel, ... have not I sent +thee?' + +But, besides this thought that the knowledge of Jehovah as peace fits +us for strife, that hastily-reared altar with its seemingly +inappropriate name, may remind us that it is possible, in the midst of +the deadliest hand-to-hand grip with evil, and whilst fighting the +'good fight of faith' with the most entire self-surrender to the divine +will, to bear within us, deeper than all the surface strife, that +inward tranquillity which knows no disturbance, though the outward life +is agitated by fierce storms. Deep in the centre of the ocean the +waters lie quiet, though the wildest tempests are raging above, and the +fiercest currents running. Over the tortured and plunging waters of the +cataract there lies unmoving, though its particles are in perpetual +flux, the bow of promise and of peace. So over all the rush and thunder +of life there may stretch, radiant and many-coloured, and dyed with +beauty by the very sun himself, the abiding bow of beauty, the emblem +and the reality of the divine tranquillity. The Christian life is +continual warfare, but in it all, 'the peace of God which passeth +understanding' may 'garrison our hearts and minds.' In the inmost keep +of the castle, though the storm of war may be breaking against the +walls, there will be a quiet chamber where no noise of the archers can +penetrate, and the shouts of the fight are never heard. Let us seek to +live in the 'secret place of the Most High'; and in still communion +with Him, keep our inmost souls in quiet, while we bravely front +difficulties and enemies. You are to be God's warriors; see to it that +on every battlefield there stands the altar 'Jehovah Shalom.' + +III. Lastly, we may draw yet another lesson, and say that that altar, +with its significant inscription, expressed the aim of the conflict and +the hope which sustains in the fight. + +Gideon was fighting for peace, and what he desired was that victory +should bring tranquillity. The hope which beckoned him on, when he +flung himself into his else desperate enterprise, was that God would so +prosper his work that the swords might be beaten into ploughshares, and +the spears into pruning hooks. Which things may stand as an allegory, +and suggest to us that the Christian warfare, whilst it rests upon, and +is prompted by, the revelation of God who is peace, aims in all its +blows, at the conquering of that sure and settled peace which shall be +broken by no rebellious outbursts of self-will, nor by any risings of +passions and desires. The aim of our warfare should ever be that the +peace of God may be throned in our hearts, and sit there a gentle +queen. The true tranquillity of the blessed life is the prize of +conflict. David, 'the man of war from his youth,' prepares the throne +for Solomon, in whose reign no alarms of war are heard. If you would +enter into peace, you must fight your way to it, and every step of the +road must be a battle. The land of peace is won by the good fight of +faith. + +But Gideon's altar not only expressed his purpose in his taking up +arms, but his confidence of accomplishing it, based upon the assurance +that the Lord would give peace. It was a trophy erected before the +fight, and built, not by arrogant presumption or frivolous +underestimate of the enemy's strength, but by humble reliance on the +power of that Lord who had promised His presence, and had assured +triumph. So the hope that named this altar was the hope that war meant +victory, and that victory would bring peace. That hope should animate +every Christian soldier. Across the dust of the conflict, the fair +vision of unbroken and eternal peace should gleam before each of us, +and we should renew fainting strength and revive drooping courage by +many a wistful gaze. + +We may realise that hope in large measure here. But its fulfilment is +reserved for the land of peace which we enter by the last conflict with +the last enemy. + +Every Christian man's gravestone is an altar on which is written 'Our +God is peace'; in token that the warrior has passed into the land where +'violence shall no more be heard, wasting, nor destruction within its +borders,' but all shall be deep repose, and the unarmed, because +unattacked, peace of tranquil communion with, and likeness to, 'Jehovah +our Peace.' + +So, dear brethren, let us pass from tradition and hearsay into personal +intercourse with God, and from shrinking and doubt into the sunshine of +the conviction that He is our peace. And then, with His tranquillity in +our hearts let us go out, the elect apostles of the peace of God, and +fight for Him, after the pattern of the Captain of our salvation, who +had to conquer peace through conflict; and was 'first of all King of +Righteousness, and _after that_ also King of Peace.' + + + + +GIDEON'S FLEECE + +'Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on +the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I +know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.'-- +JUDGES vi. 37. + + +The decisive moment had come when Gideon, with his hastily gathered raw +levies, was about to plunge down to the plain to face immensely +superior forces trained to warfare. No wonder that the equally +untrained leader's heart heat faster. Many a soldier, who will be +steadfastly brave in the actual shock of battle, has tremors and +throbbings on its eve. Gideon's hand shook a little as he drew his +sword. + +I. Gideon's request. + +His petition for a sign was not the voice of unbelief or of doubt or of +presumption, but in it spoke real, though struggling faith, seeking to +be confirmed. Therefore it was not regarded by God as a sin. When a +'wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign,' no sign was given +it, but when faith asks for one to help it to grasp God's hand, and to +go on His warfare in His strength and as His instrument, it does not +ask in vain. + +Gideon's prayer was wrapped, as it were, in an enfolding promise, for +it is preceded and followed by the quotation of words of the Angel of +the Lord who had 'looked on him,' and said, 'Go in this thy might and +save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?' Prayers +that begin and end with 'as Thou hast spoken' are not likely to be +repulsed. + +II. God's answer. + +God wonderfully allows Gideon to dictate the nature of the sign. He +stoops to work it both ways, backwards and forwards, as it were. First +the fleece is to be wet and the ground to be dry, then the fleece is to +be dry and the ground wet. Miracle was a necessary accompaniment of +revelation in those early days, as picture-books are of childhood. But, +though we are far enough from being 'men' in Christ, yet we have not +the same need for 'childish things' as Gideon and his contemporaries +had. We have Christ and the Spirit, and so have a 'word made more sure' +than to require signs. But still it is true that the same gracious +willingness to help a tremulous faith, which carries its tremulousness +to God in prayer, moves the Father's heart to-day, and that to such +petitions the answer is given even before they are offered: 'Ask what +ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' No sign that eyes can see is +given, but inward whispers speak assurance and communicate the +assurance which they speak. + +III. The meaning of the sign. + +Many explanations have been offered. The main point is that the fleece +is to be made different from the soil around it. It is to be a proof of +God's power to endow with characteristics not derived from, and +resulting in qualities unlike, the surroundings. + +Gideon had no thought of any significance beyond that. But we may +allowably let the Scripture usage of the symbol of dew influence our +reading into the symbol a deeper meaning than it bore to him. + +God makes the fleece wet with dew, while all the threshing-floor is +dry. Dew is the symbol of divine grace, of the silently formed moisture +which, coming from no apparent source, freshens by night the wilted +plants, and hangs in myriad drops, that twinkle into green and gold as +the early sunshine strikes them, on the humblest twig. That grace is +plainly not a natural product nor to be accounted for by environment. +The dew of the Spirit, which God and God only, can give, can freshen +our worn and drooping souls, can give joy in sorrow, can keep us from +being touched by surrounding evils, and from being parched by +surrounding drought, can silently 'distil' its supplies of strength +according to our need into our else dry hearts. + +The wet fleece on the dry ground was not only a revelation of God's +power, but may be taken as a pattern of what God's soldiers must ever +be. A prophet long after Gideon said: 'The remnant of Jacob shall be in +the midst of many peoples as dew from the Lord,' bringing to others the +grace which they have received that they may diffuse it, and turning +the dry and thirsty land where no water is into fertility, and the +'parched ground' into a 'pool.' + +We have said that the main point of Gideon's petition was that the +fleece should be made unlike the threshing-floor, and that that +unlikeness, which could obviously not be naturally brought about, was +to be to him the sure token that God was at work to produce it. The +strongest demonstration that the Church can give the world of its +really being God's Church is its unlikeness to the world. If it is wet +with divine dew when all the threshing-floor is dry, and if, when all +the floor is drenched with poisonous miasma, it is dry from the +diffused and clinging malaria, the world will take knowledge of it, and +some souls be set to ask how this unlikeness comes. When Haman has to +say: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among +the peoples ... and their laws are diverse from those of every people,' +he may meditate murder, but 'many from among the people of the land' +will join their ranks. Gideon may or may not have thought of the fleece +as a symbol of his little host, but we may learn from it the old +lesson, 'Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the +renewing of your minds.' + + + + +'FIT, THOUGH FEW' + +'Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, +rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host +of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, +in the valley. 2. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are +with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, +lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath +saved me. 3. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, +saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart +early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and +two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4. And the Lord said +unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the +water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of +whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with +thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee. This shall not go with thee, +the same shall not go. 5. So he brought down the people unto the water: +and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with +his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise +every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6. And the number +of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three +hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees +to drink water. 7. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred +men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine +hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8. So +the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent +all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those +three hundred men. And the host of Midian was beneath him in the +valley.'--JUDGES vii 1-8. + + +Gideon is the noblest of the judges. Courage, constancy, and caution +are strongly marked in his character. The youngest son of an obscure +family in a small tribe, he humbly shrinks from the task imposed on +him,--not from cowardice or indolence, but from conscious weakness. Men +who are worthy to do such work as his are never forward to begin it, +nor backward in it when they are sure that it is God's will. He began +his war against Midian by warring against Baal, whose worship had +brought the oppressor. If any thorough deliverance from the misery +which departure from God has wrought is to be effected, we must destroy +the idols before we attack the spoilers. Cast out sin, and you cast out +sorrow. So he first earns his new name of Jerubbaal ('Let Baal plead'), +and is known as Baal's antagonist, before he blows the trumpet of +revolt. The name is an omen of victory. The hand that had smitten the +idol, and had not been withered, would smite Midian. Therefore that new +name is used in this chapter, which tells of the preparations for the +fight and its triumphant issue. From his home among the hills, he had +sent the fiery cross to the three northern tribes, who had been the +mainstay of Deborah's victory, and who now rallied around Gideon to the +number of thirty-two thousand. The narrative shows us the two armies +confronting each other on the opposite slopes of the valley of Jezreel, +where it begins to dip steeply towards the Jordan. Gideon and his men +are on the south side of the valley, above the fountain of Harod, or +'Trembling,' apparently so called from the confessed terror which +thinned his army. The word 'is afraid,' in verse 3, comes from the same +root. On the other side of the glen, not far from the site of the +Philistine camp on the day of Saul's last defeat, lay the far- +stretching camp of the invaders, outnumbering Israel by four to one. +For seven years these Midianite marauders had paralysed Israel, and +year by year had swarmed up this valley from the eastern desert, and +thence by the great plain had penetrated into every corner of the land, +as far south as Gaza, devouring like locusts. It is the same easy route +by which, to this day, the Bedouin find their way into Palestine, +whenever the weak Turkish Government is a little weaker or more corrupt +than usual. Apparently, the Midianites were on their homeward march, +laden with spoil, and very contemptuous of the small force across the +valley, who, on their part, had not shaken off their terror of the +fierce nomads who had used them as they pleased for seven years. + +I. Note, as the first lesson taught here, the divinely appointed +disproportion between means and end, and its purpose. Many an Israelite +would look across to the long lines of black tents, and think, 'We are +too few for our task'; but to God's eye they were too many, and the +first necessity was to weed them out. The numbers must be so reduced +that the victory shall be unmistakably God's, not theirs. The same sort +of procedure, and for the same reason, runs through all God's dealings. +It is illustrated in a hundred Scripture instances, and is stated most +plainly by Paul in his triumphant eloquence. He revels in telling how +foolish, weak, base things, that are _no_ things in the world's +estimate, have been chosen to cover with shame wise, strong, honoured +things, which seem to be somewhat; and he gives the same reason as our +lesson does, 'that no flesh should glory in His presence.' Eleven poor +men on one side, and all the world on the other, made fearful odds. The +more unevenly matched are the respective forces, the more plainly does +the victory of the weaker demand for its explanation the intervention +of God. The old sneer, that 'Providence is always on the side of the +strongest battalions,' is an audacious misreading of history, and is +the very opposite of the truth. It is the weak battalions which win in +the long run, for the history of every good cause is the same. First, +it kindles a fire in the hearts of two or three nobodies, who are +burned in earlier times, and laughed at as fools, fanatics, +impracticable dreamers, in later ages, but whose convictions grow till, +one day, the world wakes up to find that everybody believes them, and +then it 'builds the tombs of the prophets.' + +Why should God desire that there shall be no mistake as to who wins the +battle? The answer may very easily be so given as to make what is +really a token of His love become an unlovely and repellent trait in +His character. It is not eagerness for praise that moves Him, but +longing that men may have the blessedness of recognising His hand +fighting for them. It is for Israel's sake that He is so solicitous to +deliver them from the delusion of their having won the victory. It is +because He loves us and would fain have us made restful, confident, +and strong, in the assurance of His fighting for us, that He takes +pains so to order the history of His Church in the world, that it is +one long attestation of the omnipotence of weakness when His power +flows through it. To say 'Mine own hand hath saved me,' is to lose +unspeakable peace and blessing; to say 'Not I, but the grace of God in +me,' is to be serene and of good cheer in the face of outnumbering +foes, and sure of victory in all conflicts. Therefore God is careful to +save us from self-gratulation and self-confidence. + +One lesson we may learn from this thinning of the ranks; namely, that +we need not be anxious to count heads, when we are sure that we are +doing His work, nor even be afraid of being in a minority. Minorities +are generally right when they are the apostles of new thoughts, though +the minorities which cleave to some old fossil are ordinarily wrong. +The prophet and his man were alone and ringed around with enemies, when +he said, 'They that be with us are more than they that be with them'; +and yet he was right, for the mountain was full of horses and chariots +of fire. Let us be sure that we are on God's side, and then let us not +mind how few are in the ranks with us, nor be afraid, though the far- +extended front of the enemy threatens to curl around our flanks and +enclose us. The three hundred heroes had God with them, and that was +enough. + +II. Note the self-applied test of courage which swept away so much +chaff. According to Deuteronomy xx. 8, the standing enactment was that +such a proclamation as that in verse 3 should precede every battle. +Much difficulty has been raised about the mention of Mount Gilead here, +as the only Mount Gilead otherwise mentioned in Scripture lay to the +east of Jordan. But perhaps the simplest solution is the true one,- +that there was another hilly region so named on the western side. The +map of the Palestine Exploration Fund attaches the name to the northern +slopes of the western end of Gilboa, where Gideon was now encamped, and +that is probably right. Be that as it may, the effect of the +proclamation was startling. Two-thirds of the army melted away. No +doubt, many who had flocked to Gideon's standard felt their valour +oozing out at their finger ends, when they came close to the enemy, and +saw their long array across the valley. It must have required some +courage to confess being afraid, but the cowards were numerous enough +to keep each other in countenance. Two out of three were panic-struck. +I wonder if the proportion would be less in Christ's army to-day, if +professing Christians were as frank as Gideon's men? + +Why were the 'fearful' dismissed? Because fear is contagious; and, in +undisciplined armies like Gideon's, panic, once started, spreads +swiftly, and becomes frenzied confusion. The same thing is true in the +work of the Church to-day. Who that has had much to do with guiding its +operations has not groaned over the dead weight of the timid and +sluggish souls, who always see difficulties and never the way to get +over them? And who that has had to lead a company of Christian men has +not often been ready to wish that he could sound out Gideon's +proclamation, and bid the 'fearful and afraid' take away the chilling +encumbrance of their presence, and leave him with thinned ranks of +trusty men? Cowardice, dressed up as cautious prudence, weakens the +efficiency of every regiment in Christ's army. + +Another reason for getting rid of the fearful is that fear is the +opposite of faith, and that therefore, where it is uppermost, the door +by which God's power can enter to strengthen is closed. Not that faith +must be free of all admixture of fear, but that it must subdue fear, if +a man is to be God's warrior, fighting in His strength. Many a tremor +would rock the hearts of the ten thousand who remained, but they so +controlled their terror that it did not overcome their faith. We do not +need, for our efficiency in Christ's service, complete exemption from +fear, but we do need to make the psalmist's resolve ours: 'I will +trust, and not be afraid.' Terror shuts the door against the entrance +of the grace which makes us conquerors, and so fulfils its own +forebodings; faith opens the door, and so fulfils its own confidences. + +III. Note the final test. God required but few men, but He required +that these should be fit. The first test had sifted out the brave and +willing. The liquor was none the less, though so much froth had been +blown off. As Thomas Fuller says, there were 'fewer persons, but not +fewer men,' after the poltroons had disappeared. The second test, 'a +purgatory of water,' as the same wise and witty author calls it, was +still more stringent. The dwindled ranks were led down from their camp +on the slopes to the fountain and brook which lay in the valley near +the Midianites' camp. Gideon alone seems to have known that a test was +to be applied there; but he did not know what it was to be till they +reached the spring, and the soldiers did not know that they were +determining their fate when they drank. The two ways of drinking +clearly indicated a difference in the men. Those who glued their lips +to the stream and swilled till they were full, were plainly more self- +indulgent, less engrossed with their work, less patient of fatigue and +thirst, than those who caught up enough in their curved palms to +moisten their lips without stopping in their stride or breaking rank. +The former test was self-applied, and consciously so. This is no less +self-applied, though unconsciously. God shuts out no man from His army, +but men shut themselves out; sometimes knowingly, by avowed +disinclination for the warfare, sometimes unknowingly, by self- +indulgent habits, which proclaim their unfitness. + +The great lesson taught here is that self-restraint in the use of the +world's goods is essential to all true Christian warfare. There are two +ways of looking at and partaking of these. We may either 'drink for +strength' or 'for drunkenness' .Life is to some men first a place for +strenuous endeavour, and only secondly a place of refreshment. Such +think of duty first and of water afterwards. To them, all the innocent +joys and pleasures of the natural life are as brooks by the way, of +which Christ's soldier should drink, mainly that he may be re- +invigorated for conflict. There are others whose conception of life is +a scene of enjoyment, for which work is unfortunately a necessary but +disagreeable preliminary. One does not often see such a character in +its pure perfection of sensualism; but plenty of approximations to it +are visible, and ugly sights they are. The roots of it are in us all; +and it cannot be too strongly insisted on that, unless it be subdued, +we cannot enlist in Christ's army, and shall never be counted worthy to +be His instruments. Such self-restraint is especially needful to be +earnestly inculcated on young men and women, to whom life is opening as +if it were a garden of delight, whose passions are strong, whose sense +is keen, whose experience is slender, and to whom all earth's joys +appeal more strongly than they do to those who have drunk of the cup, +and know how bitter is its sediment. It is especially needful to be +pealed into the ears of a generation like ours, in which senseless +luxury, the result of wealth which has increased faster than the power +of rightly using it, has attained such enormous proportions, and is +threatening, in commercial communities especially, to drown all noble +aspirations, and Spartan simplicity, and Christian self-devotion, in +its muddy flood. Surely never was Gideon's test more wanted for the +army of the Lord of hosts than it is to-day. + +Such self-restraint gives double sweetness to enjoyments, which, when +partaken of more freely, pall on the jaded palate. 'The full soul +loatheth a honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is +sweet.' The senses are kept fine-edged, and the rare holidays are +sweeter because they are rare. The most refined prudence of the mere +sensualist would prescribe the same regimen as the Christian moralist +does. But from how different a motive! Christ calls for self-restraint +that we may be fit organs for His power, and bids us endure hardness +that we may be good soldiers of His. If we know anything of the true +sweetness of His fellowship and service, it will not be hard to drink +sparingly of earthly fountains, when we have the river of His pleasures +to drink from; nor will it be painful sacrifice to cast away imitation +jewels, in order to clasp in our hands the true riches of His love and +imparted life. + + + + +A BATTLE WITHOUT A SWORD + +'And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream +unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake +of barley-bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, +and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. +14. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the +sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand +hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15, And it was so, when +Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, +that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, +Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. +16. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he +put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps +within the pitchers. 17. And be said unto them, Look on me, and do +likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall +be, that as I do, so shall ye do. 18. When I blow with a trumpet, I and +all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of +all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 19. So +Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside +of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but +newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers +that were in their hands. 20. And the three companies blew the +trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left +hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they +cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 21. And they stood every +man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, +and fled. 22. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set +every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and +the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel- +meholah, unto Tabbath. 23. And the men of Israel gathered themselves +together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, +and pursued after the Midianites.'--JUDGES vii. 13-23. + + +To reduce thirty-two thousand to three hundred was a strange way of +preparing for a fight; and, no doubt, the handful left felt some +sinking of their courage when they looked on their own small number and +then on the widespread Midianite host. Gideon, too, would need +heartening. So the first thing to be noted is the encouragement given +him. God strengthens faith when it needs strengthening, and He has many +ways of doing so. Note that Gideon's visit to the Midianite camp was on +'the same night' on which his little band was left alone after the +ordeal by water. How punctually to meet our need, when it begins to be +felt, does God's help come! It was by God's command that he undertook +the daring adventure of stealing down to the camp. We can fancy how +silently he and Phurah crept down the hillside, and, with hushed breath +and wary steps, lest they should stumble on and wake some sleeper, or +even rouse some tethered camel, picked their way among the tents. But +they had God's command and promise, and these make men brave, and turn +what would else be foolhardy into prudence. Ho put his ear to the black +camel's-hair wall of one tent, and heard what his faith could not but +recognise as God's message to him. + +The soldier's dream was just such as such a man would dream in such +circumstances. A round loaf of barley (the commonest kind of bread) was +dreamed of as rolling down from a height and upsetting '_the_ +tent.' The use of the definite article seems to point to some +particular tent, perhaps simply the one in which the dreamer lay, or +perhaps the general's; but the noun may be used as a collective, and +what is meant may be that the loaf went through the camp, overturning +all the tents in its way. The interpretation needed no Daniel, but the +immediate explanation given, shows not only the transparency of the +symbol, but the dread in the Midianite ranks of Gideon's prowess. A +nameless awe, which goes far to produce the defeat it dreads, was +beginning to creep over them. It finds utterance both in the dream and +in its translation. The tiny loaf worked effects disproportioned to its +size. A rock thundering down the hillside might have mass and momentum +enough to level a line of tents, but one poor loaf to do it! Some +mightier than human hand must have set it going on its career. So the +soldier interprets that God had delivered the army into Gideon's hand. + +This dream suggests two or three considerations. In several instances +we find God speaking to those outside Israel by dreams; for example, to +Pharaoh and his two officers, Nebuchadnezzar, Pilate's wife. It is the +lowest form of divine communication, and, like other lower forms, is +not to be looked for when the higher teaching of the Spirit of Christ +is open to us all. + +Again, while both dream and interpretation might be accounted for on +simply natural grounds, a deeper insight into the so-called 'natural' +brings us to see it as all penetrated by the operations of the ever- +present God. And the coincidences which brought Gideon to just that +tent among the thousands along the valley at just the moment when the +two startled sleepers were talking, might well strike Gideon, as they +did, as being God's own fulfilment of the promise that 'what they say' +would strengthen his hands for the attack (v. 11). + +Further, Gideon had already had the sign of the fleece and the dew; but +God does not disdain to let him have an additional encouragement, and +to let him draw confirmation of his own token from the talk of two +Midianites. Faith may be buttressed by men's words, albeit its only +foundation is God's. + +Gideon has a place in the muster-roll of heroes of faith in Hebrews +xi., and his whole conduct in this incident proves his right to stand +there. 'He worshipped,' for his soul went out in trust to God, whose +voice he heard through the two Midianites, and bowed in thankfulness +and submissive obedience. There could be no outward worship there, with +an army of sleepers close by, but the silent uplifting of confidence +and desire reaches God and strengthens the man. So he went back with +new assurance of victory, and roused his sleeping band. + +Mark his words as another token of his faith. The Midianite interpreter +had said, '_God_ has delivered'; Gideon says, 'The _Lord_ has +delivered.' The former name is the more general, and is natural on the +lips of a heathen; the latter is the covenant name, and to use it +implies reliance on the Jehovah revealed by His acts to Israel. The +Midianite had said that the host was delivered into Gideon's hand; he +says that it is delivered into the hands of the three hundred, +suppressing himself and honouring them. God's soldiers must be willing +to 'esteem others better than themselves,' and to fight for God's +glory, not their own. The Midianite had said, 'This is ... the sword of +Gideon'; he bid his men cry 'the sword of _the Lord, and_ of +Gideon.' It was God's cause for which they were contending, not his; +and yet it was his, inasmuch as he was God's instrument. 'Excellent +mixture,' says Thomas Fuller, 'both joined together; admirable method, +God put in the first place. Where divine blessing leads up the van, and +man's valour brings up the battle, must not victory needs follow in the +rear?' + +Gideon does not seem to have been divinely directed to the stratagem by +which the Midianites were thrown into panic. He had been promised +victory, but that does not lead him to idle waiting for fulfilment of +the promise. 'To wait for God's performance in doing nothing is to +abuse that divine providence, which will so work that it will not allow +us to idle' (_Bishop Hall_). True faith will wisely adopt means to +reach promised ends, and, having used brain and hand as if all depended +on ourselves, will look to Him, as if nothing depended on us, but all +on Him. + +There was strong faith as well as daring and skilful generalship in +leading down the three hundred, with no weapons but trumpets and +pitchers, to close quarters with an armed enemy so superior in numbers. +And did it not need some faith, too, not only in Gideon but in God, on +the part of his band, to plunge down the hill on such an errand, each +man with both his hands full, and so unable to strike a blow? The other +three hundred at Thermopylae have been wept over and sung; were not +these three hundred as true heroes? Let us not count heads when we are +called on to take God's side. His soldiers are always in the minority, +but, if He is reckoned in, the minority becomes the majority. 'They +that be with us are more than they that be with them.' + +One can fancy the sleepers starting up dazed by the sudden bray of the +trumpets and the wild shout of that war-cry yelled from every side. As +they stumbled out of their tents, without leaders, without knowledge of +the numbers of their foe, and saw all around the flaring torches, and +heard the trumpet-blasts, which seemed to speak of an immense attacking +force, no wonder that panic shook them, and they fled. Huge mobs of +undisciplined men, as Eastern armies are, and these eminently were, are +especially liable to such infectious alarms; and the larger the force, +the faster does panic spread, the more unmanageable does the army +become, and the more fatal are the results. Each man reflects, and so +increases, his neighbour's fear. 'Great armies, once struck with +amazement, are like wounded whales. Give them but line enough, and the +fishes will be the fishermen to catch themselves.' + +So the host broke up in wild disorder, and hurried in fragments towards +the Jordan fords, trampling each other down as they raced through the +darkness, and each man, as he ran, dreading to feel the enemy's sword +in his back next moment. `The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the +righteous is bold as a lion.' Thus without stroke of weapon was the +victory won. The battle was the Lord's. + +And the story is not antiquated in substance, however the form of the +contests which God's soldiers have to-day to fight has changed. Still +it is true that we shall only wage war aright when we feel that it is +His cause for which we contend, and His sword which wins the victory. +If Gideon had put himself first in his warcry, or had put his own name +only in it, the issue would have been different. + +May we not also venture to apply the peculiar accoutrements of the +victorious three hundred to ourselves? Christ's men have no weapons to +wield but the sounding out from them, as from a trumpet, of the word of +the Lord, and the light of a Christian life shining through earthen +vessels. If we boldly lift up our voices in the ancient war-cry, and +let that word peal forth from us, and flash the light of holy lives on +a dark world, we may break the sleeper's slumbers to a glad waking, and +win the noblest of victories by leading them to enlist in the army of +our Captain, and to become partakers of His conquests by letting Him +conquer, and thereby save them. + + + + +STRENGTH PROFANED AND LOST + +'But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him +down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in +the prison-house. 22, Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again +after he was shaven. 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered +them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and +to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into +our hand. 24. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for +they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the +destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 25. And it came to +pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, +that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the +prison-house; and he made them sport; and they set him between the +pillars. 20. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand. +Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, +that I may lean upon them. 27. Now the house was full of men and women; +and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon +the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson +made sport. 28. And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, +remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this +once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Phillistines. And he +bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, +and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew +at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. 31. Then +his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, +and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Ishtaol in the +burying place of Munnah his father. And he judged Israel twenty +years.'--Judges xvi. 21-31. + + +Nobody could be less like the ordinary idea of an Old Testament 'saint' +than Samson. His gift from 'the spirit of the Lord' was simply physical +strength, and it was associated with the defects of his qualities. His +passions were strong, and apparently uncontrolled. He had no moral +elevation or religious fervour. He led no army against the Philistines, +nor seems to have had any fixed design of resisting them. He seeks a +wife among them, and is ready to feast and play at riddles with them. +When he does attack them, it is because he is stung by personal +injuries; and it is only with his own arm that he strikes. His exploits +have a mixture of grim humour and fierce hatred quite unlike anything +else in Scripture, and more resembling the horse-play of Homeric or +Norse heroes than the stern purpose and righteous wrath of a soldier +who felt that he was God's instrument. We seem to hear his loud +laughter as he ties the firebrands to the struggling jackals, or swings +the jaw-bone. A strange champion for Jehovah! But we must not leave out +of sight, in estimating his character, the Nazarite vow, which his +parents had made before his birth, and he had endorsed all his life. + + +That supplies the substratum which is lacking, The unshorn hair and the +abstinence from wine were the signs of consecration to God, which might +often fail of reaching the deepest recesses of the will and spirit, but +still was real, and gave the point of contact for the divine gift of +strength. Samson's strength depended on his keeping the vow, of which +the outward sign was the long, matted locks; and therefore, when he let +these be shorn, he voluntarily cast away his dependence on and +consecration to God, and his strength ebbed from him. He had broken the +conditions on which he received it, and it disappeared. So the story +which connects the loss of his long hair with the loss of his +superhuman power has a worthy meaning, and puts in a picturesque form +an eternal truth. + +We see here, first, Samson the prisoner. Milton has caught the spirit +of the sad picture in verses 21 and 22, in that wonderful line, + + 'Eyeless, in Gaza, at the mill, with slaves,' + +in which the clauses drop heavily like slow tears, each adding a new +touch of woe. The savage manners of the times used the literal forcing +out of the eyes from their sockets as the easiest way of reducing +dangerous enemies to harmlessness. Pitiable as the loss was, Samson was +better blind than seeing. The lust of the eye had led him astray, and +the loss of his sight showed him his sin. Fetters of brass betrayed his +jailers' dread of his possibly returning strength; and the menial task +to which he was set was meant as a humiliation, in giving him woman's +work to do, as if this were all for which the eclipsed hero was now +fit. Generous enemies are merciful; the baser sort reveal their former +terror by the indignities they offer to their prisoner. + +In Samson we see an impersonation of Israel. Like him, the nation was +strong so long as it kept the covenant of its God. Like him, it was +ever prone to follow after strange loves. Its Delilahs were the gods of +the heathen, in whose laps it laid its anointed head, and at whose +hands it suffered the loss of its God-given strength; for, like Samson, +Israel was weak when it forgot its consecration, and its punishment +came from the objects of its infatuated desires. Like him, it was +blinded, bound, and reduced to slavery, for all its power was held, as +was his, on condition of loyalty to God. His life is as a mirror, in +which the nation might see their own history reflected; and the lesson +taught by the story of the captive hero, once so strong, and now so +weak, is the lesson which Moses taught the nation: 'Because thou +servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of +heart, by reason of the abundance of all things: therefore shalt thou +serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, +and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and He +shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck' (Deut. xxviii. 47, 48). The +blind Samson, chained, at the mill, has a warning for us, too. That is +what God's heroes come to, if once they prostitute the God-given +strength to the base loves of self and the flattering world. We are +strong only as we keep our hearts clear of lower loves, and lean on God +alone. Delilah is most dangerous when honeyed words drop from her lips. +The world's praise is more harmful than its censure. Its favours are +only meant to draw the secret of our strength from us, that we may be +made weak; and nothing gives the Philistines so much pleasure as the +sight of God's warriors caught in their toils and robbed of power. + +But Samson's misery was Samson's blessedness. The 'howbeit' of verse 22 +is more than a compensation for all the wretchedness. The growth of his +hair is not there mentioned as a mere natural fact, nor with the +superstitious notion that his hair made him strong. God made him strong +on condition of his keeping his vow of consecration. The long matted +locks were the visible sign that he kept it. Their loss was the +consequence of his own voluntary breach of it. So their growth was the +visible token that the fault was being repaired. Chastisement wrought +sorrow; and in the bondage of the prison he found freedom from the +worse chains of sin, and in its darkness felt the dawning of a better +light. As Bishop Hall puts it: 'His hair grew together with his +repentance, and his strength with his hair.' The cruelties of the +Philistines were better for him than their kindness. The world outwits +itself when it presses hard on God's deserters, and thus drives them to +repent. God mercifully takes care that His wandering children shall not +have an easy time of it; and his chastisements, at their sharpest, are +calls to us to come back to Him. Well for those, even if in chains, who +know their meaning, and yield to it. + +II. We have here Samson,--the occasion of godless triumph. The worst +consequence of the fall of a servant of God is that it gives occasion +for God's enemies to blaspheme, and reflects discredit on Him, as if He +were vanquished. Samson's capture is Dagon's glory. The strife between +Philistia and Israel was, in the eyes of both combatants, a struggle +between their gods; and so the men of Gaza lit their sacrificial fires +and sent up their hymns to their monstrous deity as victor. What would +Samson's bitter thoughts be, as the sound of the wild rejoicings +reached him in his prison? And is not all this true to-day? If ever +some conspicuous Christian champion falls into sin or inconsistency, +how the sky is rent with shouts of malicious pleasure! What paragons of +virtue worldly men become all at once! How swiftly the conclusion is +drawn that all Christians are alike, and none of them any better than +the non-Christian world! How much more harm the one flaw does than all +the good which a life of service has done! The faults of Christians are +the bulwarks of unbelief. `The name of God is blasphemed among the +Gentiles through you.' The honour of Christ is a sacred trust, and it +is in the keeping of us His followers. Our sins do not only darken our +own reputation, but they cloud His. Dagon's worshippers have a right to +rejoice when they have Samson safe in their prison, with his eyes out. + +III. We have Samson made a buffoon for drunkards. The feasts of +heathenism were wild orgies, very unlike the pure joy of the +sacrificial meals in Jehovah's worship. Dagon's temple was filled with +a drunken crowd, whose mirth would be made more boisterous by a spice +of cruelty. So, a roar of many voices calls for Samson, and this +deepest degradation is not spared him. The words employed for 'make +sport' seem to require that we should understand that he was not +brought out to be the passive object of their gibes and drunken +mockery, but was set to play the fool for their delectation. They imply +that he had to dance and laugh, while three thousand gaping +Philistines, any one of whom would have run for his life if he had been +free, fed their hatred by the sight. Perhaps his former reputation for +mirth and riddles suggested this new cruelty. Surely there is no more +pathetic picture than that of the blind hero, with such thoughts as we +know were seething in him, dragged out to make a Philistine holiday, +and set to play the clown, while the bitterness of death was in his +soul. And this is what God's soldiers come down to, when they forget +Him: 'they that wasted us required of us mirth.' + +Wearied with his humiliating exertions, the blind captive begs the boy +who guided him to let him lean, till he can breathe again, on the +pillars that held up the light roof. We need not discuss the probable +architecture of Dagon's temple, of which we know nothing. Only we may +notice that it is not said that there were only _two_ pillars, but +rather necessarily implied that there were more than two, for those +against which he leaned were 'the two middle' ones. It is quite easy to +understand how, if there were a row of them, knocking out the two +strongest central ones would bring the whole thing down, especially +when there was such a load on the flat roof. Apparently the principal +people were in the best places on the ground floor, sheltered from the +sun by the roof, on which the commonalty were clustered, all waiting +for what their newly discovered mountebank would do next, after he had +breathed himself. The pause was short, and they little dreamed of what +was to follow. + +IV. We have the last cry and heroic death of Samson. It is not to be +supposed that his prayer was audible to the crowd, even if it were +spoken aloud. It is not an elevated prayer, but is, like all the rest +of his actions at their best, deeply marked with purely personal +motives. The loss of his two eyes is uppermost in his mind, and he +wants to be revenged for them. Instead of trying to make a lofty hero +out of him, it is far better to recognise frankly the limitations of +his character and the imperfections of his religion. The distance +between him and the New Testament type of God's soldier measures the +progress which the revelation of God's will has made, and the debt we +owe to the Captain of the host for the perfect example which He has +set. The defects and impurity of Samson's zeal, which yet was accepted +of God, preach the precious lesson that God does not require virtues +beyond the standard of the epoch of revelation at which His servants +stand, and that imperfection does not make service unacceptable. If the +merely human passion of vengeance throbbed fiercely in Samson's prayer, +he had never heard 'Love your enemies'; and, for his epoch, the +destruction of the enemies of God and Israel was duty. He was not the +only soldier of God who has let personal antagonism blend with his zeal +for God; and we have less excuse, if we do it, than he had. + +But there is the true core of religion in the prayer. It is penitence +which pleads, 'Remember me, O Lord God!' He knows that his sin has +broken the flow of loving divine thought to him, but he asks that the +broken current may be renewed. Many a silent tear had fallen from +Samson's blind eyes, before that prayer could have come to his lips, as +he leaned on the great pillars. Clear recognition of the Source of his +strength is in the prayer; if ever he had forgotten, in Delilah's lap, +where it came from, he had recovered his conscious dependence amid the +misery of the prison. There is humility in the prayer 'Only this once.' +He feels that, after such a fall, no more of the brilliant exploits of +former days are possible. They who have brought such despite on Jehovah +and such honour to Dagon may be forgiven, and even restored to much of +their old vigour, but they must not be judges in Israel any more. The +best thing left for the penitent Samson is death. + +He had been unconscious of the departure of his strength, but he seems +to have felt it rushing back into his muscles; so he grasps the two +pillars with his mighty hands; the crowd sees that the pause for breath +is over, and prepares to watch the new feats. Perhaps we may suppose +that his last words were shouted aloud, 'Let me die with the +Philistines!' and before they have been rightly taken in by the mob, he +sways himself backwards for a moment, and then, with one desperate +forward push, brings down the two supports, and the whole thing rushes +down to hideous ruin amid shrieks and curses and groans. But Samson +lies quiet below the ruins, satisfied to die in such a cause. + +He 'counted not his life dear' unto himself, that he might be God's +instrument for God's terrible work. The last of the judges teaches us +that we too, in a nobler cause, and for men's life, not their +destruction, must be ready to hazard and give our lives for the great +Captain, who in His death has slain more of our foes than He did in His +life, and has laid it down as the law for all His army, 'He that loseth +his life for My sake shall find it.' + +How beautifully the quiet close of the story follows the stormy scene +of the riotous assembly and the sudden destruction. The Philistines, +crushed by this last blow, let the dead hero's kindred search for his +body amid the chaos, and bear it reverently up from the plain to the +quiet grave among the hills of Dan, where Manoah his father slept. +There they lay that mighty frame to rest. It will be troubled no more +by fierce passions or degrading chains. Nothing in his life became him +like the leaving of it. The penitent heroism of its end makes us +lenient to the flaws in its course; and we leave the last of the judges +to sleep in his grave, recognising in him, with all his faults and +grossness, a true soldier of God, though in strange garb. + + + + +THE BOOK OF RUTH + + + + +A GENTLE HEROINE, A GENTILE CONVERT + +'And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from +following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou +lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my +God: 17. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the +Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. +18. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then +she left speaking unto her. 19. So they two went until they came to +Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, +that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? +20. And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the +Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21. I went out full, And the +Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, +seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath +afflicted me? 22. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her +daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: +and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.'--RUTH +1 16-22. + + +The lovely idyl of _Ruth_ is in sharp contrast with the bloody and +turbulent annals of _Judges_. It completes, but does not contradict, +these, and happily reminds us of what we are apt to forget in reading +such pages, that no times are so wild but that in them are quiet +corners, green oases, all the greener for their surroundings, +where life glides on in peaceful isolation from the tumult. Men and +women love and work and weep and laugh, the gossips of Bethlehem talk +over Naomi's return ('they said,' in verse 19, is feminine), Boaz +stands among his corn, and no sounds of war disturb them. Thank God! +the blackest times were not so dismal in reality as they look in +history. There are clefts in the grim rock, and flowers blooming, +sheltered in the clefts. The peaceful pictures of this little book, +multiplied many thousand times, have to be set as a background to the +lurid pictures of the _Book of Judges_. + +The text begins in the middle of Naomi's remonstrance with her two +daughters-in-law. We need not deal with the former part of the +conversation, nor follow Orpah as she goes back to her home and her +gods. She is the first in the sad series of those, 'not far from the +kingdom of God,' who needed but a little more resolution at the +critical moment, and, for want of it, shut themselves out from the +covenant, and sank back to a world which they had half renounced. + +So these two lonely widows are left, each seeking to sacrifice herself +for the other. Who shall decide which was the more noble and truly +womanly in her self-forgetfulness,--the elder, sadder heart, which +strove to secure for the other some joy and fellowship at the price of +its own deepened solitude; or the younger, which steeled itself against +entreaties, and cast away friends and country for love's sweet sake? We +rightly praise Ruth's vow, but we should not forget Naomi's unselfish +pleading to be left to tread her weary path alone. + +Ruth's passionate burst of tenderness is immortal. It has put into +fitting words for all generations the deepest thoughts of loving +hearts, and comes to us over all the centuries between, as warm and +living as when it welled up from that gentle, heroic soul. The two +strongest emotions of our nature are blended in it, and each gives a +portion of its fervour--love and religion. So closely are they +interwoven that it is difficult to allot to each its share in the +united stream; but, without trying to determine to which of them the +greater part of its volume and force is due, and while conscious of the +danger of spoiling such words by comments weaker than themselves, we +may seek to put into distinct form the impressions which they make. + +We see in them the heroism of gentleness. Put the sweet figure of the +Moabitess beside the heroes of the _Book of Judges_, and we feel +the contrast. But is there anything in its pages more truly heroic than +her deed, as she turned her back on the blue hills of Moab, and chose +the joyless lot of the widowed companion of a widow aged and poor, in a +land of strangers, the enemies of her country and its gods? It is +easier far to rush on the spears of the foe, amid the whirl and +excitement of battle, than to choose with open eyes so dreary a +lifelong path. The gentleness of a true woman covers a courage of the +patient, silent sort, which, in its meek steadfastness, is nobler than +the contempt of personal danger, which is vulgarly called bravery. It +is harder to endure than to strike. The supreme type of heroic, as of +all, virtue is Jesus Christ, whose gentleness was the velvet glove on +the iron hand of an inflexible will. Of that best kind of heroes there +are few brighter examples, even in the annals of the Church which +numbers its virgin martyrs by the score, than this sweet figure of +Ruth, as the eager vow comes from her young lips, which had already +tasted sorrow, and were ready to drink its bitterest cup at the call of +duty. She may well teach us to rectify our judgments, and to recognise +the quiet heroism of many a modest life of uncomplaining suffering. Her +example has a special message to women, and exhorts them to see to it +that, in the cultivation of the so-called womanly excellence of +gentleness, they do not let it run into weakness, nor, on the other +hand, aim at strength, to the loss of meekness. The yielding birch- +tree, the 'lady of the woods,' bends in all its elastic branches and +tossing ringlets of foliage to the wind; but it stands upright after +storms that level oaks and pines. God's strength is gentle strength, +and ours is likest His when it is meek and lowly, like that of the +'strong Son of God.' + +Ruth's great words may suggest, too, the surrender which is the natural +language of true love. Her story comes in among all these records of +bloodshed and hate, like a bit of calm blue sky among piles of ragged +thunder-clouds, or a breath of fresh air in the oppressive atmosphere +of a slaughter-house. Even in these wild times there was still a quiet +corner where love could spread his wings. The question has often been +asked, what the purpose of the _Book of Ruth_ is, and various +answers have been given. The genealogical table at the end, showing +David's descent from her, the example which it supplies of the +reception of a Gentile into Israel, and other reasons for its presence +in Scripture, have been alleged, and, no doubt, correctly. But the +Bible is a very human book, just because it is a divine one; and surely +it would be no unworthy object to enshrine in its pages a picture of +the noble working of that human love which makes so much of human life. +The hallowing of the family is a distinct purpose of the Old Testament, +and the beautiful example which this narrative gives of the elevating +influence of domestic affection entitles it to a place in the canon. +How many hearts, since Ruth spoke her vow, have found in it the words +that fitted their love best! How often they have been repeated by +quivering lips, and heard as music by loving ears! How solemn, and even +awful, is that perennial freshness of words which came hot and broken +by tears, from lips that have long ago mouldered into dust! What has +made them thus 'enduring for ever,' is that they express most purely +the self-sacrifice which is essential to all noble love. The very +inmost longing of love is to give itself away to the object beloved. It +is not so much a desire to acquire as to bestow, or, rather, the +antithesis of giving and receiving melts into one action which has a +twofold motion,--one outwards, to give; one inwards, to receive. To +love is to give one's self away, therefore all lesser givings are its +food and delight; and, when Ruth threw herself on Naomi's withered +breast, and sobbed out her passionate resolve, she was speaking the +eternal language of love, and claiming Naomi for her own, in the very +act of giving herself to Naomi, Human love should be the parent of all +self-sacrificing as of all heroic virtues; and in our homes we do not +live in love, as we ought, unless it leads us to the daily exercise of +self-suppression and surrender, which is not felt to be loss but the +natural expression of our love, which it would be a crime against it, +and a pain to ourselves, to withhold. If Ruth's temper lived in our +families, they would be true 'houses of God' and 'gates of heaven.' + +We hear in Ruth's words also that forsaking of all things which is an +essential of all true religion. We have said that it was difficult to +separate, in the words, the effects of love to Naomi from those of +adoption of Naomi's faith. Apparently Ruth's adhesion to the worship of +Jehovah was originally due to her love for her mother-in-law. It is in +order to be one with her in all things that she says, 'Thy God shall be +my God.' And it was because Jehovah was Naomi's God that Ruth chose Him +for hers. But whatever the origin of her faith, it was genuine and +robust enough to bear the strain of casting Chemosh and the gods of +Moab behind her, and setting herself with full purpose of heart to seek +the Lord. Abandoning them was digging an impassable gulf between +herself and all her past, with its friendships, loves, and habits. She +is one of the first, and not the least noble, of the long series of +those who 'suffer the loss of all things, and count them but dung, that +they may win' God for their dearest treasure. We have seen how, in her, +human love wrought self-sacrifice. But it was not human love alone that +did it. The cord that drew her was twisted of two strands, and her love +to Naomi melted into her love of Naomi's God. Blessed they who are +drawn to the knowledge and love of the fountain of all love in heaven +by the sweetness of the characters of His representatives in their +homes, and who feel that they have learned to know God by seeing Him in +dear ones, whose tenderness has revealed His, and whose gracious words +have spoken of His grace! If Ruth teaches us that we must give up all, +in order truly to follow the Lord, the way by which she came to her +religion may teach us how great are the possibilities, and consequently +the duties, of Christians to the members of their own families. If we +had more elder women like Naomi, we should have more younger women like +Ruth. + +The self-sacrifice which is possible and blessed, even to inferior +natures, at the bidding of love, is too precious to be squandered on +earthly objects. Men's capacities for it, at the call of dear ones +here, should be the rebuke of their grudging surrender to God. He gave +the capacity that it might find its true field of operation in our +relation to Him. But how much more ready we all are to give up +everything for the sake of our Naomis than for His sake: and how we may +be our own accusers, if the measure of our devotion to them be +contrasted with the measure of our devotion to God! + +Finally, we may see, in Ruth's entrance into the religion of Israel, a +picture of what was intended to be the effect of Israel's relation with +the Gentile world. + +The household of Elimelech emigrated to Moab in a famine, and, whether +that were right or wrong, they were there among heathens as Jehovah +worshippers. They were meant to be missionaries, and, in Ruth's case, +the purpose was fulfilled. She became the 'first-fruits of the +Gentiles'; and one aim of the book, no doubt, is to show how the +believing Gentile was to be incorporated into Israel. Boaz rejoices +over her, and especially over her conversion, and prays, 'A full reward +be given thee of Jehovah, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art +come to trust.' She is married to him, and becomes the ancestress of +David, and, through him, of the Messiah. All this is a beautiful +completion to the other side of the picture which the fierce fighting +in Judges makes prominent, and teaches that Israel's relation to the +nations around was not to be one of mere antagonism, but that they had +another mission than destruction, and were set in their land, as the +candlestick in the Tabernacle, that light might stream out into the +darkness of the desert. The story of the Moabitess, whose blood flowed +in David's veins, was a standing protest against the later narrow +exclusiveness which called Gentiles 'dogs,' and prided itself on +outward connection with the nation, in the exact degree in which it +lost real union with the nation's God, and real understanding of the +nation's mission. + +We have left ourselves no space to speak of the remainder of this +passage, which is of less importance. It gives us a lively picture of +the stir in the little town of Bethlehem, as the two way-worn women +came into it, in their strange attire, and attracting notice by +travelling alone. As we have observed, 'they said,' in verse 19, is +feminine. The women of the village buzzed round the strangers, as they +sat in silence, perhaps by that well at the gate, of which, long after, +David longed to drink. Wonder, curiosity, and possibly a spice of +malice, mingle in the question, 'Is _this_ Naomi?' It is heartless, +at any rate; it had been better to have found them food and shelter +than to have let them sit, the mark for sharp tongues. Naomi's bitter +words seem to be moved partly by a sense of the coldness of the +reception. She realises that she has indeed come back to a changed +world, where there will be little sympathy except such as Ruth can +give. It is with almost passion that she abjures her name 'Pleasant,' +as a satire on her woful lot, and bids them call her 'Bitter,' as truer +to fact now. The burst of sorrow is natural, as she finds herself again +where she had been a wife and mother, and 'remembers happier things.' +Her faith wavers, and her words almost reproach God. The exaggerations +in which memory is apt to indulge colour them. 'I went out full.' She +has forgotten that they 'went out' to seek for bread. She only +remembers that four went away, and three sleep in Moab. Possibly she +thinks of their emigration as a sin, and traces her dear ones' deaths +to God's displeasure on its account. His 'testifying' against her +probably means that His providence in bereaving her witnessed to His +disapprobation. But, whether that be so or not, her wild words are not +those of a patient sufferer, who bows to His will. But true faith may +sometimes break down, and Ruth's 'trusting under the wings of Jehovah' +is proof enough that, in the long years of lonely sorrow, Naomi's +example had shown how peaceful and safe was the shelter there. + + + + +THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL + + + + +THE CHILD PROPHET + +'And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word +of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2. +And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, +and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 8. And ere the +lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God +was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4. That the Lord called Samuel: +and he answered, Here am I. 5. And he ran onto Eli, and said, Here am +I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And +he went and lay down. 6. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And +Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call +me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 7. Now +Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet +revealed unto him. 8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. +And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call +me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 9. Therefore +Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He call thee, +that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth. So Samuel +went and lay down in his place. 10. And the Lord came, and stood, and +called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; +for Thy servant heareth. 11. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I +will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that +heareth it shall tingle. 12. In that day I will perform against Eli all +things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will +also make an end. 13. For I have told him that I will judge his house +for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made +themselves vile, and he restrained them not. 14. And therefore I have +sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not +be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.'--1 SAMUEL ill. 1-14. + + +The opening words of this passage are substantially repeated from 1 +Samuel ii. 11,18. They come as a kind of refrain, contrasting the +quiet, continuous growth and holy service of the child Samuel with the +black narrative of Eli's riotous sons. While the hereditary priests +were plunging into debauchery, and making men turn away from the +Tabernacle services, Hannah's son was ministering unto the Lord, and, +though no priest, was 'girt with an ephod.' This white flower blossomed +on a dunghill. The continuous growth of a character, from a child +serving God, and to old age walking in the same path, is the great +lesson which the story of Samuel teaches us. 'The child is father of +the man,' and all his long days are 'bound each to each' by true +religion. There are two types of experience among God's greatest +servants. Paul, made an Apostle from a persecutor, heads the one class. +Timothy in the New Testament and Samuel in the Old, represent the +other. An Augustine or a Bunyan is made the more earnest, humble, and +whole-hearted by the remembrance of a wasted youth and of God's +arresting mercy. But there are a serenity and continuity about a life +which has grown up in the fear of God that have their own charm and +blessing. It is well to have 'much transgression' forgiven, but it may +be better to have always been 'innocent' and ignorant of it. Pardon +cleanses sin, and even turns the memory of it into an ally of holiness; +but traces are left on character, and, at the best, years have been +squandered which do not return. Samuel is the pattern of child religion +and service, to which teachers should aim that their children may be +conformed. How beautifully his double obedience is expressed in the +simple words! His service was 'unto the Lord,' and it was 'before Eli'; +that is to say, he learned his work from the old man, and in obeying +him he served God. The child's religion is largely obedience to human +guides, and he serves God best by doing what he is bid,--a lesson +needed in our days by both parents and children. + +Samuel's peaceful service is contrasted, in the second half of the +first verse, with the sad cessation of divine revelations in that +dreary time of national laxity. A demoralised priesthood, an alienated +people, a silent God,--these are the outstanding features of the period +when this fair life of continuous worship unfolded itself. This flower +grew in a desert. The voice of God had become a tradition of the past, +not an experience of the present. 'Rare' conveys the idea better than +'precious.' The intention is not to tell the estimate in which the word +was held, but the infrequency of its utterance, as appears from the +following parallel clause. The fact is mentioned in order to complete +the picture of Samuel's 'environment' to fling into relief against that +background his service, and to prepare the way for the narrative of the +beginning of an epoch of divine speech. When priests are faithless and +people careless, God's voice will often sound from lowly childlike +lips. The man who is to be His instrument in carrying on His work will +often come from the very centre of the old order, into which he is to +breathe new life, and on which he is to impress a new stamp. + +The artless description of the night in the Tabernacle is broken by the +more general notice of Eli's dim sight, which the Revised Version +rightly throws into a parenthesis. It is somewhat marred, too, by the +transposition which the Authorised Version, following some more ancient +ones, has made, in order to avoid saying, as the Hebrew plainly does, +that Samuel slept in the 'Temple of the Lord, where the ark was.' The +picture is much more vivid and tender, if we conceive of the dim-eyed +old man, lying somewhat apart; of the glimmering light, nearly extinct +but still faintly burning; and of the child laid to sleep in the +Tabernacle. Surely the picturesque contrast between the sanctity of the +ark and the innocent sleep of childhood is meant to strike us, and to +serve as connecting the place with the subsequent revelation. Childlike +hearts, which thus quietly rest in the 'secret place of the Most High,' +and day and night are near His ark, will not fail of hearing His voice. +He sleeps secure who sleeps 'beneath the shadow of the Almighty.' May +not these particulars, too, be meant to have some symbolic +significance? Night hung over the nation. The spiritual eye of the +priest was dim, and the order seemed growing old and decrepit, but the +lamp of God had not altogether gone out; and if Eli was growing blind, +Samuel was full of fresh young life. The darkest hour is that before +the dawn; and that silent sanctuary, with the slumbering old half-blind +priest and the expiring lamp, may stand for an emblem of the state of +Israel. + +The thrice-repeated and misunderstood call may yield lessons of value. +We note the familiar form of the call. There is no vision, no symbol of +the divine glory, such as other prophets had, but an articulate voice, +so human-like that it is thought to be Eli's. Such a kind of call +fitted the child's stature best. We note the swift, cheery obedience to +what he supposes to be Eli's voice. He sprang up at once, and 'ran to +Eli,'--a pretty picture of cheerful service, grudging not his broken +sleep, which, no doubt, had often been similarly broken by similar +calls. Perhaps it was in order to wait on Eli, quite as much as to tend +the lamp or open the gates, that the singular arrangement was made of +his sleeping in the Temple; and the reason for the previous parenthesis +about Eli's blindness may have been to explain why Samuel slept near +him. Where were Eli's sons? They should have been their father's +attendants, and the watchers 'by night ... in the house of the Lord'; +but they were away rioting, and the care of both Temple and priest was +left to a child. + +The old man's heart evidently went out to the boy. How tenderly he bids +him lie down again! How affectionately he calls him 'my son,' as if he +was already beginning to feel that this was his true successor, and not +the blackguards that were breaking his heart! The two were a pair of +friends: on the one side were sedulous care and swift obedience by +night and by day; on the other were affection and a discernment of +coming greatness, made the clearer by the bitter contrast with his own +children's lives. The old and the young are good companions for one +another, and often understand each other better and help each other +more than either does his contemporaries. + +Samuel mistook God's voice for Eli's, as we all often do. And not less +often we make the converse blunder, and mistake Eli's voice for God's. +It needs a very attentive ear, and a heart purged from selfishness and +self-will, and ready for obedience, to know when God speaks, though men +may be His mouthpieces, and when men speak, though they may call +themselves His messengers. The child's mistake was venial. It is less +pardonable and more dangerous when repeated by us. If we would be +guarded against it, we must be continually where Samuel was, and we +must not _sleep_ in the Temple, but 'watch and be sober.' + +Eli's perception that it was God who spoke must have had a pang in it. +It is not easy for the old to recognise that the young hear God's voice +more clearly than they, nor for the superior to be glad when he is +passed over and new truth dawns on the inferior. But, if there were any +such feeling, it is silenced with beautiful self-abnegation, and he +tells the wondering child the meaning of the voice and the answer he +must make. What higher service can any man do to his fellows, old or +young, than to help them to discern God's call and to obey it? What +nobler conception of a teacher's work is there than that? Eli heard no +voice, from which we may probably conclude that, however real the +voice, it was not audible to sense; but he taught Samuel to interpret +and answer the voice which he heard, and thus won some share of a +prophet's reward. + +With what expectation in his young heart Samuel lay down again in his +place! This time there is an advance in the form of the call, for only +now do we read that the Lord 'came, and stood, and called' as before. A +manifestation, addressed to the inward eye, accompanied that to the +ear. There is no attempt at describing, nor at softening down, the +frank 'anthropomorphism' of the representation, which is the less +likely to mislead the more complete it is. Samuel had heard Him before; +he sees Him now, and mistake is impossible. But there is no terror nor +recoil from the presence. The child's simplicity saves from that, and +the child's purity; for his little life had been a growing in service +and 'in favour with God and man.' + +The answer that came from the child's lips meant far more than the +child knew. It is the answer which we are all bound to make. Let us see +how deep and wide its scope is. It expresses the entire surrender of +the will to the will of God. That is the secret of all peace and +nobleness. There is nothing happy or great for man in this world but to +love and do God's will. All else is nought. This is solid. 'The world +passeth away, ... but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.' +Everything besides is show and delusion, and a life directed to it is +fleeting as the cloud-wrack that sweeps across the sky, and, whether it +is shone on or is black, is equally melting away. Happy the child who +begins with such surrender of self to be God's instrument, and who, +like Samuel, can stand up at the end and challenge men's judgment on +his course! + +The answer vows prompt obedience to yet undisclosed duty. God ever +calls His servants to tasks which only by degrees are made known. So +Paul in his conversion was bid to go into Damascus, and there learn +what more he was to do. We must first put ourselves in God's hands, and +then He will lead us round the turn in the road, and show us our work. +We get it set for us bit by bit, but the surrender must be entire. The +details of His will are revealed as we need them for the moment's +guidance. Let us accept them in bulk, and stand to the acceptance in +each single case! That is no obedience at all which says, 'Tell me +first what you are going to bid me do, and then I will see whether I +will do it.' The true spirit of filial submission says, 'I delight to +do Thy will; now show me what it is.' It was a strange, long road on +which Samuel put his foot when he answered this call, and he little +knew where it was to lead him. But the blessing of submission is that +we do not need to know. It is enough to see where to put our lifted +foot. What comes next we can let God settle. + +The answer supplicated further light because of present obedience. +'Speak! for Thy servant heareth,' is a plea never urged in vain. The +servant's open ear is a reason for the Lord's open lips. We may be +quite sure that, if we are willing to hear, He is more than willing to +speak; and anything is possible rather than that His children shall be +left, like ill-commanded soldiers on a battlefield, waiting for orders +which never come. 'If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know.' + +The sad prophecy which is committed to such apparently incongruous lips +reiterates a former message by 'a man of God.' Eli was a kindly, and, +in his way, good man, but wanting in firmness, and acquiescent in evil, +partly, perhaps, from lack of moral courage and partly from lack of +fervent religion. He is not charged with faults in his own +administration of his office, but with not curbing his disreputable +sons. The threatenings are directed, not against himself, but against +his 'house,' who are to be removed from the high priestly office. +Nothing less than a revolution is foretold. The deposition of Eli's +family would shake the whole framework of society. It is to be utterly +destroyed, and no sacrifice nor offering can purge it. The ulcer must +have eaten deep which required such stern measures for its excision. +The sin was mainly the sons'; but the guilt was largely the father's. +We may learn how cruel paternal laxity is, and how fatal mischief may +be done, by neglect of the plain duty of restraining children. He who +tolerates evil which it is his province to suppress, is an accomplice, +and the blood of the doers is red on his hands. + +It was a terrible message to give to a child; but Samuel's calling was +to be the guide of Israel in a period of transition, and he had to be +broken early into the work, which needed severity as well as +tenderness. Perhaps, too, the stern message was somewhat softened, for +the poor old man, by the lips through which it came to him. All that +reverent love could do, we may be sure, the young prophet would do, to +lighten the heavy tidings. Secrecy would be secured, too; for Samuel, +who was so unwilling to tell even Eli what the Lord had said, would +tell none besides. + +God calls each child in our homes as truly as He did Samuel. From each +the same obedience is asked. Each may, like the boy in the Tabernacle, +grow up 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,' and so escape the +many scars and sorrows of a life wrongly begun. Let parents see to it +that they think rightly of their work, and do not content themselves +with conveying information, but aim at nothing short of helping all +their children to hear and lovingly to yield to the gentle call of the +incarnate God! + + + + +FAITHLESSNESS AND DEFEAT + +'And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against +the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the +Philistines pitched in Aphek. 2. And the Philistines put themselves in +array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten +before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about +four thousand men. 3. And when the people were come into the camp, the +elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before +the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out +of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of +the hand of our enemies. 4. So the people sent to Shiloh, that they +might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, +which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni +and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5. And +when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel +shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 6. And when +the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth +the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they +understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7. And the +Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And +they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing +heretofore. 8. Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of +these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all +the plagues in the wilderness. 9. Be strong, and quit yourselves like +men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as +they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. 10. And the +Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man +into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of +Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11. And the ark of God was taken; and +the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 12. And there ran +a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with +his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13. And when he came, +lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled +for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, +all the city cried out. 14. And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, +he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in +hastily, and told Eli. 15. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and +his eyes were dim, that he could not see. 16. And the man said unto +Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the +army. And he said, What is there done, my son? 17. And the messenger +answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there +hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons +also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God Is taken. 18. +And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he +fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck +brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged +Israel forty years.'--1 SAMUEL iv. 1-18. + + +The first words of verse 1 are closely connected with the end of +chapter iii., and complete the account of Samuel's inauguration. 'The +word of the Lord' came to Samuel, and 'the word of Samuel came to all +Israel.' The one clause tells of the prophet's inspiration, the other +of his message and its reception by the nation. This bond of union +between the clauses has been broken by the chapter division, apparently +for the sake of representing the revolt against the Philistines as due +to Samuel's instigation. But its being so is very doubtful. If God had +sent the army into the field, He would have prepared it, by penitent +return to Him, for victory, as no defeat follows on war which He +commands. Probably Samuel's mission made an unwholesome ferment in +minds which were quite untouched by its highest significance, and so +led to a precipitate rebellion, preceded by no religious reformation, +and therefore sure to fail. It was twenty years too soon (1 Sam. vii. +3). Samuel took no part in the struggle, and his name is never +mentioned till, at the end of that period, he emphatically condemns all +that had been done, and points the true path of deliverance, in 'return +to the Lord with all your heart.' So the great lesson of this story is +that when Israel fights Philistines, unbidden and unrepentant, it is +sure to be beaten,--a truth with manifold wide applications. + +The first disastrous defeat took place on a field, which was afterwards +made memorable by a great victory, and by a name which lives still as a +watchword for hope and gratitude. Happy they who at last conquer where +they once failed, and in the retrospect can say, 'Hitherto the Lord +helped,' both by defeat and by the victory for which defeat prepared a +way! That opening struggle, bloody and grave as it was, was not +decisive; for the Israelites regained their fortified camp unmolested, +and held together, and kept their communications open, as appears from +what followed. + +Verses 3 to 5 give us a glimpse into the camp of Israel, and verses 6 +to 9 into that of the Philistines. These two companion pictures are +worth looking at. The two armies are very much alike, and we may say +that the purpose of the picture is to show how Israel was practically +heathen, taking just the same views of its relation to God which the +Philistines did. Note, too, the absence of central authority. 'The +elders' hold a kind of council. Where were Eli the judge and Samuel the +prophet? Neither had part in this war. The question of the elders was +right, inasmuch as it recognised that the Lord had smitten them, but +wrong inasmuch as it betrayed that they had not the faintest notion +that the reason was their own moral and religious apostasy. They had +not learned the A B C of their history, and of the conditions of +national prosperity. They stand precisely on the Pagan level, believing +in a national God, who ought to help his votaries, but from some +inexplicable caprice does not; or who, perhaps, is angry at the +omission of some ritual observance. What an answer they would have got +if Samuel had been there! There ought to have been no need for the +question, or, rather, there was need for it, and the answer ought to +have been clear to them; their sin was the all-sufficient reason for +their defeat. There are plenty of Christians, like these elders, who, +when they find themselves beaten by the world and the devil, puzzle +their brains to invent all sorts of reasons for God's smiting, except +the true one,--their own departure from Him. + +The remedy suggested by the united wisdom of the leaders was as heathen +as the consultation which resulted in it. 'Let us send for the ark' +'Those who regarded not the God of the ark,' says Bishop Hall, 'think +themselves safe and happy in the ark of God.' They thought, with that +confusion between symbol and reality which runs through all heathen +worship, and makes the danger of 'images,' whether in heathenism or in +sensuous Christianity, that if they brought the ark, they brought God +with it. It was a kind of charm, which would help them, they hardly +knew how. Its very name might have taught them better. They call it +'the ark of the covenant of the Lord'; and a covenant has two parties +to it, and promises favour on conditions. If they had kept the +conditions, these four thousand corpses would not have been lying stiff +and stark outside the rude encampment. As they did not keep them, +bringing the chest which contained the transcript of them into their +midst was bringing a witness of their apostasy, not a helper of their +feebleness. Repentance would have brought God. Dragging the ark thither +only removed Him farther away. We need not be too hard upon these +people; for the natural disposition of us all is to trust to the +externals of worship, and to put a punctilious attention to these in +the place of a true cleaving of heart to the God who dwells near us, +and is in us and on our side, if we cling to Him with penitent love. +Even God-appointed symbols become snares. Baptism and the Lord's Supper +are treated by multitudes as these elders did the ark. The fewer and +simpler the outward observances of worship are, the less danger is +there of the poor sense-bound soul tarrying in them, instead of passing +by means of them into the higher, purer air beyond. + +What right had these presumptuous elders to bring the ark from Shiloh? +Eli was its guardian; and he, as appears probable from his anxiety +about its fate, did not approve of its removal. But 'the people' took +the law into their own hands. There seems some hint that their action +was presumptuous profanation, in the solemn, full title given in verse +4: 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts which dwelleth between +the cherubim,'--as if contrasting His awful majesty, His universal +dominion over the armies of heaven and the embattled powers of the +universe, and the dazzling light of that 'glory,' which shone in the +innermost chamber of the Tabernacle, with the unanointed hands that +presumed to press in thither and drag so sacred a thing into the light +of common day and the tumult of the camp. Nor is the profanation +lessened, but rather increased, by the priestly attendants, Eli's two +sons, themselves amongst the worst men in Israel. When Hophni and +Phinehas are its priests, the ark can bring no help. Heathenism +separates religion from morality altogether. In it there is no +connection between worship and purity, and the Old Testament religion +for the first time welded these two inseparably together. That +tumultuous procession from Shiloh, with these two profligates for the +priests of God, and the bearers thinking that they were sure of their +God's favour now, whatever their sin, shows how completely Israel had +forgotten its own law, and, whilst professedly worshipping Jehovah, had +really become a heathen people. The reception of the ark with that +fierce shout, which echoed among the hills and was heard in the +Philistines' encampment, shows the same thing. Not so should the ark +have been received, but with tears and confessions and silent awe. No +man in all that host had ever looked upon it before. No man ought to +have seen it _then_. Once a year, and not without blood sprinkled +on its cover, the high priest might look on it through the cloud of +incense which kept him from death, while all the people waited hushed +till he came forth, but now it is dragged into the camp, and welcomed +with a yell of mad delight, as a pledge of victory. What could display +more strikingly the practical heathenism of the people? + +Verses 6 to 9 take us into the other camp, and show us the undisguised +heathens. The Philistines think just as the other side did, only, in +their polytheistic way, they do not use the name 'Jehovah,' but speak +first of 'God' and then of 'gods' as having arrived in the camp. The +nations dreaded each other's gods, though they worshipped their own; +and the Philistines believed quite as much that 'Jehovah' was the +Hebrew's God, as that 'Dagon' was theirs. There was to be a duel then +between the two superhuman powers. The vague reports which they had +heard of the Exodus, nearly five hundred years ago, filled the +Philistines with panic. They had but a confused notion of the facts of +that old story, and thought that Egypt had met the ten plagues 'in the +wilderness.' The blunder is very characteristic, and helps to show the +accuracy of our narrative. It would not have occurred to a legend- +maker. It sounds strange to us that the Philistines' belief that the +Hebrews' God had come to their help should issue in exhortations to +'fight like men.' But polytheism makes that quite a natural conclusion; +and there is something almost fine in the truculent boldness with which +they set their teeth for a fierce struggle. They reiterate to one +another the charge to 'quit themselves like men'; and while they do not +hide from themselves that the question whether they are to be still +masters is hanging on the coming struggle, a dash of contempt for the +'Hebrews' who had been their 'slaves' is perceptible. + +According to verse 10, the Philistines appear to have begun the attack, +perhaps taking the enemy by surprise. The rout this time was complete. +The grim catalogue of disaster in verses 10 and 11 is strangely tragic +in its dreadful, monotonous plainness, each clause adding something to +the terrible story, and each linked to the preceding by a simple 'and.' +The Israelites seem to have been scattered. 'They fled, every man to +his tent.' The army, with little cohesion and no strong leaders, melted +away. The ark was captured, and its two unworthy attendants slain. +Bringing it had not brought God, then. It was but a chest of +shittimwood, with two slabs of lettered stone in it,--and what help was +in that? But its capture was the sign that the covenant with Israel was +for the time annulled. The whole framework of the nation was +disorganised. The keystone was struck out of their worship, and they +had fallen, by their own sin, to the level of the nations, and even +below these; for they had their gods, but Israel had turned away from +their God, and He had departed from them. Superstition fancied that the +presence of the ark secured to impenitent men the favour of God; but it +was no superstition which saw in its absence from Shiloh His averted +face. + +Is there in poetry or drama a more vivid and pathetic passage than the +closing verses of this narrative, which tell of the panting messenger +and the old blind Eli? + +'Eben-ezer' cannot have been very far from Shiloh, for the fugitive had +seen the end of the fight, and reached the city before night. He came +with the signs of mourning, and, as it would appear from verse 13, +passed the old man at the gate without pausing, and burst into the city +with his heavy tidings. One can almost hear the shrill shrieks of wrath +and despair which first told Eli that something was wrong. Blind and +unwieldy and heavy-hearted, he sat by the gate to which the news would +first come; but yet he is the last to hear,--perhaps because all shrank +from telling him, perhaps because in the confusion no one remembered +him. Only after he had asked the meaning of the tumult, of which his +foreboding heart and conscience told him the meaning before it was +spoken, is the messenger brought to the man to whom he should have gone +first. How touchingly the story pauses, even at this crisis, to paint +the poor old man! A stronger word is used to describe his blindness +than in 1 Samuel iii. 2, as the Revised Version shows. His fixed +eyeballs were sightless now; and there he sat, dreading and longing to +hear. The fugitive's account of himself is shameless in its avowal of +his cowardice, and prepares Eli for the worst. But note how he speaks +gently and with a certain dignity, crushing down his anxiety,--'How +went the matter, my son?' Then, with no merciful circumlocution or +veiling, out comes the whole dismal story once again. + +Eli spoke no more. His sons' death had been the sign given him years +before that the threatenings against his house should be fulfilled; but +even that blow he can bear. But the capture of the ark is more than a +personal sorrow, and his start of horror overbalances him, and he falls +from his seat (which probably had no back to it), and dies, silent, of +a broken neck and a broken heart. His forty years of judgeship ended +thus. He was in many respects good and lovable, gentle, courteous, +devout. His kindly treatment of Hannah, his fatherly training of +Samuel, his submission to the divine message through the child, his +'trembling for the ark,' his death at the news of its being taken, all +indicate a character of real sweetness and true godliness. But all was +marred by a fatal lack of strong, stern resolve to tolerate no evil +which he ought to suppress. Good, weak men, especially when they let +foolish tenderness hinder righteous severity, bring terrible evils on +themselves, their families, and their nation. It was Eli who, at +bottom, was the cause of the defeat and the disasters which slew his +sons and broke his own heart. Nothing is more cruel than the weak +indulgence which, when men are bringing a curse on themselves by their +sin, 'restrains them not.' + + + + +REPENTANCE AND VICTORY + +'And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the +Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and +sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. 2. And it came +to pans, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; +for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the +Lord. 3. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye +do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange +gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the +Lord, and serve Him only: and He will deliver you out of the hand of +the Philistines. 4. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and +Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. 5. And Samuel said, Gather all +Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord. 6. And they +gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before +the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned +against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. +7. And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were +gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up +against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were +afraid of the Philistines. 8. And the children of Israel said to +Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He will +save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 9. And Samuel took a +sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord: +and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. 10. +And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew +near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great +thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them: and +they were smitten before Israel. 11. And the men of Israel went out of +Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came +under Beth-car. 12. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh +and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath +the Lord helped us.'-1 SAMUEL vii 1-12. + + +The ark had spread disaster in Philistia and Beth-shemesh, and the +willingness of the men of Kirjath-jearim to receive it was a token of +their devotion. They must have been in some measure free from idolatry +and penetrated with reverence. The name of the city (_City of the +Woods_, like our _Woodville_) suggests the situation of the +little town, 'bosomed high in tufted trees,' where the ark lay for so +long, apparently without sacrifices, and simply watched over by +Eleazar, who was probably of the house of Aaron. Eli's family was +exterminated; Shiloh seems to have been destroyed, or, at all events, +forsaken; and for twenty years internal disorganisation and foreign +oppression, relieved only by Samuel's growing influence, prevailed. But +during these dark days a better mind was slowly appearing among the +people. 'All ... Israel lamented after the Lord.' Lost blessings are +precious. God was more prized when withdrawn. Happy they to whom +darkness brightens that Light which brightens all darkness! Our text +gives us three main points,--the preparation for victory in repentance +and return (verses 3-9); the victory (verses 10, 11); the thankful +commemoration of victory (verse 12). + +I. We have first the preparation for victory in repentance and return. +At the time of the first fight at Eben-ezer, Israel was full of +idolatry and immorality. Then their preparation for battle was the mere +bringing the ark into the camp, as if it were a fetish or magic charm. +That was pure heathenism, and they were idolaters in such worship of +Jehovah, just as much as if they had been bowing to Baal. Many of us +rely on our baptism or on churchgoing precisely in the same spirit, and +are as truly pagans. Not the name of the Deity, but the spirit of the +worshipper, makes the 'idolater.' + +How different this second preparation! Samuel, who had never been named +in the narrative of defeat, now reappears as the acknowledged prophet +and, in a sense, dictator. The first requirement is to come back to the +Lord 'with the whole heart,' and that return is to be practically +exhibited in the complete forsaking of Baal and the Ashtoreths. 'Ye +cannot serve God and mammon.' It must be 'Him only,' if it is Him at +all. Real religion is exclusive, as real love is. In its very nature it +is indivisible, and if given to two is accepted by neither. So there +was some kind of general and perhaps public giving up of the idols, and +some, though probably not the fully appointed, public service of +Jehovah. If we are to have His strength infused for victory, we must +cast away our idols, and come back to Him with all our hearts. The +hands that would clasp Him, and be upheld by the clasp, must be emptied +of trifles. To yield ourselves wholly to God is the secret of strength. + +The next step was a solemn national assembly at Samuel's town of +Mizpeh, situated on a conspicuous hill, north-west of Jerusalem, which +still is called 'the prophet Samuel.' Sacrifices were offered, which +are no part of the Mosaic ritual. A significant part of these consisted +in the pouring out of water 'before the Lord,' probably as emblematic +of the pouring out of soul in penitence; for it was accompanied by +fasting and confession of sin. The surest way to the true victory, +which is the conquest of our sins, is confessing them to God. When once +we have seen any sin in its true character clearly enough to speak to +Him about it, we have gone far to emancipate ourselves from it, and +have quickened our consciences towards more complete intolerance of its +hideousness. Confession breaks the entail of sin, and substitutes for +the dreary expectation of its continuance the glad conviction of +forgiveness and cleansing. It does not make a stiff fight unnecessary; +for assured freedom from sin is not the easy prize of confession, but +the hard-won issue of sturdy effort in God's strength. But it is like +blowing the trumpet of revolt,--it gives the signal for, and itself +begins, the conflict. The night before the battle should be spent, not +in feasting, but in prayer and lowly shriving of our souls before the +great Confessor. + +The watchful Philistines seem to have had their attention attracted by +the unusual stir among their turbulent subjects, and especially by this +suspicious gathering at Mizpeh, and they come suddenly up the passes +from their low-lying territory to disperse it. A whiff of the old +terror blows across the spirits of the people, not unwholesomely; for +it sets them, not to desire the outward presence of the ark, not to run +from their post, but to beseech Samuel's intercession. They are afraid, +but they mean to fight all the same, and, because they are afraid, they +long for God's help. That is the right temper, which, if a man cherish, +he will not be defeated, however many Philistines rush at him. Twenty +years of slavery had naturally bred fear in them, but it is a wise fear +which breeds reliance on God. Our enemy is strong, and no fault is more +fatal than an underestimate of his power. If we go into battle singing, +we shall probably come out of it weeping, or never come out at all. If +we begin bragging, we shall end bleeding. It is only he who looks on +the advancing foe, and feels 'They are too strong for me,' who will +have to say, as he watches them retreating, 'He delivered me from my +strong enemy.' We should think much of our foes and little of +ourselves. Such a temper will lead to caution, watchfulness, wise +suspicion, vigorous strain of all our little power, and, above all, it +will send us to our knees to plead with our great Captain and Advocate. + +Samuel acts as priest and intercessor, offering a burnt-offering, +which, like the pouring out of water, is no part of the Mosaic +sacrifices. The fact is plain, but it is neither unaccountable nor +large enough to warrant the sweeping inferences which have been drawn +from it and its like, as to the non-existence at this period of the +developed ceremonial in Leviticus. We need only remember Samuel's +special office, and the seclusion in which the ark lay, to have a +sufficient explanation of the cessation of the appointed worship and +the substitution of such 'irregular' sacrifices. We are on surer ground +when we see here the incident to which Psalm xcix. 6 refers ('Samuel +among them that call upon His name. They called upon the Lord, and He +answered them'), and when we learn the lesson that there is a power in +intercession which we can use for one another, and which reaches its +perfection in the prevailing prayer of our great High-priest, who, like +Samuel and Moses, is on the mountain praying, while we fight in the +plain. + +II. We have next the victory on the field of the former defeat. The +battle is joined on the old ground. Strategic considerations probably +determined the choice as they did in the case of the many battles on +the plain of Esdraelon, for instance, or on the fields of the +Netherlands. Probably the armies met on some piece of level ground in +one of the wadies, up which the Philistines marched to the attack. At +all events, there they were, face to face once more on the old spot. On +both sides might be men who had been in the former engagement. +Depressing remembrances or burning eagerness to wipe out the shame +would stir in those on the one side; contemptuous remembrance of the +ease with which the last victory had been won would animate the other. +God Himself helped them by the thunderstorm, the solemn roll of which +was 'the voice of the Lord' answering Samuel's prayer. The ark had +brought only defeat to the impure host; the sacrifice brings victory to +the penitent army. Observe that the defeat is accomplished before 'the +men of Israel went out of Mizpeh.' God scattered the enemy, and Israel +had only to pursue flying foes, as they hurried in wild confusion down +the pass, with the lightning flashing behind them. The same pregnant +expression is used for the rout of the Philistines as for the previous +one of Israel. 'They were smitten _before_,' not _by_, the victors. +The true victor was God. + +The story gives boundless hope of victory, even on the fields of our +former defeats. We can master rooted faults of character, and overcome +temptations which have often conquered us. Let no man say: 'Ah! I have +been beaten so often that I may as well give up the fight altogether. +Years and years I have been a slave, and everywhere I tread on old +battlefields, where I have come off second-best. It will never be +different. I may as well cease struggling.' However obstinate the +fault, however often it has re-established its dominion and dragged us +back to slavery, when we thought that we had made good our escape,-- +that is no reason to 'bate one jot of heart or hope.' We have every +reason to hope bravely and boundlessly in the possibility of victory. +True, we should rightly despair if we had only our own powers to depend +on. But the grounds of our confidence lie in the inexhaustible fulness +of God's Spirit, and the certain purpose of His will that we should be +purified from all iniquity, as well as in the proved tendency of the +principles and motives of the gospel to produce characters of perfect +goodness, and, above all, in the sacrifice and intercession of our +Captain on high. Since we have Christ to dwell in us, and be the seed +of a new life, which will unfold into the likeness of that life from +which it has sprung; since we have a perfect Example in Him who became +like us in lowliness of flesh, that we might become like Him in purity +of spirit; since we have a gospel which enjoins and supplies the +mightiest motives for complete obedience; and since the most rooted and +inveterate evils are no part of ourselves, but 'vipers' which may be +'shaken from the hand' into which they have struck their fangs, we +commit faithless treason against God, His message, and ourselves, when +we doubt that we shall overcome all our sins. We should not, then, go +into the fight downhearted, with our banners drooping, as if defeat sat +on them. The belief that we shall conquer has much to do with victory. +That is true in all sorts of conflicts. So, though the whole field may +be strewed with relics, eloquent of former disgrace, we may renew the +struggle with confidence that the future will not always copy the past. +We 'are saved by hope'; by hope we are made strong. It is the very +helmet on our heads. The warfare with our own evils should be waged in +the assurance that every field of our defeat shall one day see set up +on it the trophy of, not our victory, but God's in us. + +III. We have here the grateful commemoration of victory. Where that +gray stone stands no man knows to-day, but its name lives for ever. +This trophy bore no vaunts of leader's skill or soldier's bravery. One +name only is associated with it. It is 'the stone of help,' and its +message to succeeding generations is: 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped +us.' That Hitherto' is the word of a mighty faith. It includes as +parts of one whole the disaster no less than the victory. The Lord was +helping Israel no less by sorrow and oppression than by joy and +deliverance. The defeat which guided them back to Him was tender +kindness and precious help. He helps us by griefs and losses, by +disappointments and defeats; for whatever brings us closer to Him, and +makes us feel that all our bliss and wellbeing lie in knowing and +loving Him, is helpful beyond all other aid, and strength-giving above +all other gifts. + +Such remembrance has in it a half-uttered prayer and hope for the +future. 'Hitherto' means more than it says. It looks forward as well as +backward, and sees the future in the past. Memory passes into hope, and +the radiance in the sky behind throws light on to our forward path. +God's 'hitherto' carries 'henceforward' wrapped up in it. His past +reveals the eternal principles which will mould His future acts. He has +helped, therefore he will help, is no good argument concerning men; but +it is valid concerning God. + +The devout man's 'gratitude' is, and ought to be, 'a lively sense of +favours to come.' We should never doubt but that, as good John Newton +puts it, in words which bid fair to last longer than Samuel's gray +stone:-- + + 'Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review + Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.' + +We may write that on every field of our life's conflicts, and have it +engraved at last on our gravestones, where we rest in hope. + +The best use of memory is to mark more plainly than it could be seen at +the moment the divine help which has filled our lives. Like some track +on a mountain side, it is less discernible to us, when treading it, +than when we look at it from the other side of the glen. Many parts of +our lives, that seemed unmarked by any consciousness of God's help +while they were present, flash up into clearness when seen through the +revealing light of memory, and gleam purple in it, while they looked +but bare rocks as long as we were stumbling among them. It is blessed +to remember, and to see everywhere God's help. We do not remember +aright unless we do. The stone that commemorates our lives should bear +no name but one, and this should be all that is read upon it: 'Now unto +Him that kept us from falling, unto Him be glory!' + + + + +'MAKE US A KING' + +'Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came +to Samuel, onto Ramah, 5. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and +thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all +the nations. 6. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give +us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 7. And the Lord +said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they +say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected +Me, that I should not reign over them. 8. According to all the works +which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt +even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other +gods, so do they also unto thee. 9. Now therefore hearken unto their +voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner +of the king that shall reign over them. 10. And Samuel told all the +words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. 11. And he +said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He +will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, +and to be his horsemen: and some shall run before his chariots, 12. And +he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; +and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to +make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13. And +he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and +to be bakers. 14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and +your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. +15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and +give to his officers, and to his servants. 16. And he will take your +men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and +your asses, and put them to his work. 17. He will take the tenth of +your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18. And ye shall cry out in +that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the +Lord will not hear you in that day. 19. Nevertheless the people refused +to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a +king over us; 20. That we also may be like all the nations; and that +our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.'--I +SAMUEL viii. 4-20. + + +The office of judge was as little capable of transmission from father +to son as that of prophet, so that Samuel's appointment of his sons as +judges must be regarded as contrary to its true idea. It was God who +made the judges, and the introduction, in however slight a degree, of +the hereditary principle, was not only politically a blunder, but +religiously wrong. Our narrative, like Scripture generally, pronounces +no opinion on the facts it records, but its unfavourable judgment may +be safely inferred from its explanation that Samuel was 'old' when he +made the appointment, and that his sons were corrupt and unjust. Our +text deals with the unexpectedly wide consequences of that act, in the +clamour for a king. + +I. Note the ill-omened request. A formal delegation of the +representatives of the nation comes to Ramah, unsummoned by Samuel, +with the demand for a king. There must have been much talk through +Israel before the general mind could have been ascertained, and this +step taken. Not a whisper of what was passing seems to have reached +Samuel, and the request is flung at him in harsh language. It is not +pleasant for any one, least of all for a ruler, to be told that +everybody sees that he is getting old, and should provide for what is +to come next. Fathers do not like to be told that their sons are +disreputable, but Samuel had to hear the bitter truth. The old man was +pained by it, and felt that the people were tired of him, as is plain +enough from the divine words which followed, and bade him look beyond +the ingratitude displayed towards himself, to that shown to God. But +from the 'practical' point of view, there was a great deal to be said +for the reasonableness and political wisdom of the elders' suggestion. +Samuel had shown that he felt the danger of leaving the nation without +a leader, by his nomination of his sons, and the proposal of a king is +but carrying his policy a little farther. The hereditary principle once +admitted, a full-blown king was evidently the best. There were many +inconveniences in the rule by judges. They had no power but that of +force of personal character and the authority of an unseen Lord. They +left no successors; and long intervals had elapsed, and might again +elapse, between the death of one and the rise of another, during which +the nation appeared to have no head to guide nor arm to defend it. +Examples of strong monarchies surrounded them, and they wanted to have +a centre of unity and a defender in the person of a king. + +Samuel's displeasure seems to have been mainly on the ground of the +insult to himself in the proposal, and its bearing on the rule of +Jehovah over the people does not seem to have occurred to him till it +was pointed out by the divine voice. But, like a good and wise man, he +took his perplexity and trouble to God; and there he got light. The +divine judgment of the request cuts down to its hidden, and probably +unconscious, motive, and shows Samuel that weariness of him was only +its surface, while the true bottom of it was rejection of God. The +parallel drawn with idolatry is very instructive. The two things were +but diverse forms of the same sense-ridden disposition: the one being +an inability to grasp the thought of the unseen God; the other, a +precisely similar inability to keep on the high level of trust in an +unseen defender, and obedience to an unseen monarch. They wished for a +king 'to go out before them' and 'fight their battles' (v. 20). Had +they forgotten Eben-ezer, and many another field, where they and their +fathers had but to stand still and see the Lord fight for them? + +The very same difficulty in living in quiet reliance on a power which +is perceptible by no sense, besets us. We too are ever being tempted to +prefer the solid security, as our foolish senses call it, of visible +supports and delights, to the shadowy help of an unseen Arm. How many +of us would feel safer with a good balance at our banker's than with +God's promises! How many of us live as if we thought that men or women +were better recipients of our love and of our trust than God! How few, +even of professing Christians, really and habitually 'walk by faith, +not by sight'! Do we not see ourselves in the mirror of this story? If +we do not, we should. Note that the elders had, apparently, no idea +that they were rejecting God in wanting a king. Samuel says nothing of +the sort to them, and they could scarcely have made the request so +boldly and briefly if they had been conscious that it was upsetting the +very basis of their national life. Men are slow to appreciate the full +force of their craving for visible good. The petitioners could plead +many strong reasons, and, no doubt, fancied themselves simply taking +proper precautions for the future. A great deal of unavowed and +unconscious unbelief wears the mask of wise foresight. We rather pride +ourselves on our prudence, when we should be ashamed of our distrust. + +Note, too, that we cannot combine reliance on the seen and the unseen. +Life must be moulded by one or the other. The craving for a king was +the rejection of Jehovah. We must elect by which we shall live, and +from which we shall draw our supreme good. + +The desire to be like their neighbours was another motive with the +elders. It is hard to be singular, and to foster reliance on the +invisible, when all around us are dazzling examples of the success +attending the other course. One of the first lessons which we have to +learn, and one of the last which we have to practise, is a wholesome +disregard of other people's ways. If we are to do anything worth doing, +we must be content to be in a minority of one, if needful. + +II. Note God's concession of the foolish wish. The divine word to +Samuel throws light on the nature of prophetic inspiration. He is +bidden to 'hearken to the people's voice'--a procedure directly +opposite to his own ideas. This is not a case of subsequent reflection +modifying first impressions, but of an authoritative voice discerned by +the hearer to be not his own, contradicting his own thoughts, and +leaving no room for further consideration. + +Further, the granting to Israel of the king whom they desired, is but +one instance of the law which is exemplified in God's dealing with +nations and individuals, according to which He lets them have their own +way, that they may 'be filled with their own devices.' Such experience +is the best teacher, though her school fees are high. The surest way to +disgust men with their own folly, is to let it work out its results,-- +just as boys in sweetmeat shops are allowed to eat as much as they like +at first, and so get a distaste for the dainties. 'Try it, then, and +see how you like it,' is not an unkind thing to say, and God often says +it to us. When argument and appeals to duty and the like fail, there is +nothing more to be done but to let us have our request, and find out +the poison that lurked under the fair outside. The prodigal son gets +his coveted portion, and is allowed to go into the far country, that he +may prove how good and happy it is to starve among the swine, not +because his father is angry with him, but because such experience is +the only way to re-awaken his dormant love, and to make him long for +the despised place in his father's house. There are some fevers of the +desires which must run their course before the patient can be well +again. Let us keep a careful watch over ourselves, that we entertain no +wishes but such as run parallel with God's manifest will, lest He may +have in His anger, which is still love, to give us our request, that we +may find out our error by the bitter fruits of a granted desire. + +III. Note the obstinacy that, with eyes open to the consequences, +persists in its demands. Samuel is bidden to 'show them the manner of +the king that shall reign over them.' He sketches, in sombre outline, +the picture of an Eastern despot, the only kind of king which the world +then knew. The darker features of these monarchies are not included. +There is no harem, nor cruelty, nor monstrous vice, in the picture; but +the diversion of labour to minister to royal pomp, the establishment of +a standing army, the alienation of land to officials, heavy taxation +and forced labour make up the items. To these is added (v. 18) that the +royalty, now so eagerly desired, would sooner or later become a burden, +and that then they or their sons would find it was easier to put on +than to put off the yoke; for 'the Lord will not hear you in that day,' +in reference, that is, to the removal of the king. They were exchanging +an unseen King who gave all things for one who would take, and not +give. A wise exchange! The consequences of our wishes are not always +drawn out so clearly before us as in this instance; but we are not left +in darkness as to the broad issues, and we all know enough to make our +persistence in evil, after such warnings, the deepest mystery and most +flagrant sin. The drunkard is not deterred by his knowledge that there +is such a thing as _delirium tremens_; nor the thief, by the +certainty that the officer's hand will be laid on his shoulder one day +or other; nor the young profligate, by the danger that his bones shall +be 'full of the sin of his youth'; nor are any of us kept from our +sins, by the clear sight of their end. 'I have loved strangers, and +after them will I go,' notwithstanding all knowledge of the fatal +issue. Surely there is nothing sadder than that power of neglecting the +most certain known result of our acts. Wilfully blind, and hurried on +by lust, passion, or other impulse, like bulls which shut their eyes +when they charge, we rush at our mark, and often dash ourselves to +pieces on it. If a man saw the consequences of his sin at the moment of +temptation, he would not do it; but this is the wonder, that he does +not see them, though he knows them well enough, and that the knowledge +has no power to restrain him. + +IV. Note the divine purpose which uses man's sin as its instrument in +advancing its designs. God had promised Israel a king (Deut. xvii. 14, +etc.), and the elders may have thought that they were only asking for +what was in accordance with His plan. So they were; but their motive +was wrong, and so their prayer, though for what God meant to give, was +wrong. In this case, as always, God uses men's sins as occasions for +the furtherance of His own eternal purpose, as that profound saying has +it, 'Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.' The kingly office was +a step in advance, and gave occasion to the development of Messianic +expectations of the true King of Israel and of men, which would have +been impossible without it, In many ways it was for the good of the +nation, and the holders of the office were 'the Lord's anointed.' +Modern criticism has found traces of two opposite views in this story, +as compared with the passage in Deuteronomy above referred to; but +surely it is a more sober, though less novel, view, to regard the whole +incident as illustrating the two truths, that men may wish for right +things in a wrong way, and that God uses sin as well as obedience as +His instrument. No barriers can stop the march of His great purpose +through the ages, any more than a bit of glass can stay a sunbeam. +However the currents run and the storms howl, they carry the ship to +the haven; for He holds the helm, and all winds help. The people +rejected Him, and in seeking a king followed but their own earthly +minds; but they prepared the way for David and David's Son. Their +children long after, moved by the same spirit, shouted, 'We have no +king but Caesar!' but they prepared the throne for the true King, for +whom they destined a Cross. Man's greatest sin, the rejection of the +visible King of the world, brought about the firm establishment of His +dominion on earth and in heaven. The cross is the great instance of the +same law as is embodied in this history,--the overruling providence +which bends the antagonism of men into a tool for effecting the purpose +of God. + +Alas for those who only thus carry on God's designs! They perish, and +their work is none the less their sin, because God has used it. How +much better to enter with a willing heart and a clear intelligence into +sympathy with His designs, and, delighting to do His will, to share in +the eternal duration of His triumphant purpose! 'The world passeth +away, and the fashion thereof: but he that doeth the will of God +abideth for ever.' + + + + +THE OLD JUDGE AND THE YOUNG KING + +'Now the Lord had told Samuel In his ear a day before Saul came, +saying, 16, To-morrow, about this time I will send thee a man out of +the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over My +people Israel, that he may save My people out of the hand of the +Philistines: for I have looked upon My people, because their cry is +come unto Me. 17. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, +Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over My +people. 18. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell +me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. 19. And Samuel answered +Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for +ye shall eat with me to-day, and to-morrow I will let thee go, and will +tell thee all that is in thine heart. 20. And as for thine asses that +were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. +And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all +thy father's house? 21. And Saul answered and said, Am not I a +Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the +least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then +speakest thou so to me? 22. And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and +brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place +among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons. 23. And +Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which I gave thee, of +which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. 24. And the cook took up the +shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before Saul. And +Samuel said, Behold that which is left I set it before thee, and eat: +for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have +invited the people. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day. 25. And when +they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed +with Saul upon the top of the house. 26. And they arose early: and it +came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to +the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul +arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. 27. And +as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, +Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou +still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.'--1 SAMUEL ix. 15- +27. + + +Both the time and the place of the incidents here told are unknown. No +note is given of the interval that had elapsed since the elders' +deputation. All that we know is that on the previous day Samuel had had +the divine communication mentioned in verse 15, and that some days are +implied as spent by Saul in his quest for his fathers asses, Equally +uncertain is the name of the city. It was not Samuel's ordinary +residence; it was in the 'land of Zuph,' an unknown district; it was +perched, like most of the cities, on a hill; it had fountains lower +down the slope, and a 'high place' farther up, where there was a +building large enough for a feast. How strangely vivid the picture of +this anonymous city is, and how we can yet see the maidens coming down +to the fountains, the wearied travellers toiling up, and the voluble +abundance of the directions given them! + +I. The first thing we have to note is the premonitory word of the Lord. +Observe the picturesque and forcible expression, 'had uncovered the ear +of Samuel.' It is more than picturesque. It gives in the strongest form +the fact of a revelation, both as to its origin and its secrecy. It is +vain to represent the transition from judgeship to monarchy as a mere +political revolution, inaugurated by Samuel as a fore-seeing statesman. +It is misleading to speak of him, as Dean Stanley does, as one of the +men who mediate between the old and the new. His opinions and views go +for just nothing in the transaction, and he is simply God's instrument. +The people's desire for the king, and God's answer to it, were equally +independent of him. His own ideas were dead against the change, and at +each step in bringing it about the divine causality is everything, and +he is nothing but its obedient servant. It is hopeless to sift out a +naturalistic explanation from the narrative, which is either +supernatural or nothing. Note the three points of this communication,-- +God's sending Saul, the command to anoint, and the motive ascribed to +God. As to the first, how striking that full-toned authoritative 'I +will send' is! Think of the chain of ordinary events which brought Saul +to the little city,--the wandering of a drove of asses, the failure to +get on their tracks, the accident of being in the land of Zuph when he +got tired of the search, the suggestion of the servant; and behind all +these, and working through them, the will and hand of God, thrusting +this man, all unconscious, along a path which he knew not. Our own +purposes we may know, but God's we do not know. There is something +awful in the thought of the issues that may spring from the smallest +affairs, and we shall be bewildered and paralysed if once we get a +glimpse of the complicated web which is ever being woven in the loom of +time, unless we, too, can, by faith, see the Weaver, and then we shall +be at rest. Call nothing trivial, and seek to be conscious of His +guiding hand. + +The command to Samuel to anoint Saul is no product of Samuel's own +reflection, but comes to him, in this imperative form, before he has +seen Saul, like a commission in blank, in regard to which he has no +option, and in the origin of which he had no share. It was a piece of +painful work to devolve his authority, like Aaron's having to strip off +his robes before he died, and to put them on his son. But there is no +trace of wounded feeling in Samuel. He is true to his childhood's word, +'Speak, for Thy servant heareth,' and, no doubt, he had the reward +which obedience ever has to sweeten the bitterest draught, the reward +of a quiet heart. + +The reason as given in the last clause of the verse ought to have made +Samuel's self-abnegation easier. God sets him the example. Israel had +rejected Him, but He still calls them 'My people,' and looks upon them +in tender care, and hears their cry. There is no contradiction here +with the aspect of the concession to the people's wish, which appeared +in the former section. Hasty criticism tries to make out discrepancies +in the accounts, because it does not recognise one of the plainest +characteristics of Scripture; namely, its habit of stating strongly and +exclusively that side of a complicated matter which is relevant to the +purpose in hand, and leaving the other sides to be presented in due +time. The three accounts of the election give three different reasons +for it. In chapter viii., the people put it on the ground of Samuel's +age and his son's unfitness, and God treats it as national rejection of +Him. Here it appears as due, on the part of the people, to their fear +of the Philistines, and on the part of God to His loving yielding to +their cry. In 1 Samuel xii. 12, Samuel traces it to the fear of +Ammonite invasion. Are these contradictory or supplementary accounts? +Certainly the latter. Though Israel had in heart rejected God, and He +gave them a king that they might learn how much better they would have +been without one, it is as true that He lovingly listened to the cry of +their fear, and answered them, in pity and tender care, by giving them +the king whom they desired, and who would deliver them from their +enemies. Let us learn how patient of our faithless follies, and how +full of long-suffering love, even in 'anger,' He is. The same gift of +His providence, regarded in one light, is loving chastisement, and in +another is loving compliance with our cry and swift help to our need in +the shape that we desire, but in both aspects is good and perfect. +Note, too, that God's look is active, and is the bringing of the needed +aid, and that He waits for our cry before He comes with His help. + +II. The meeting of Samuel and Saul. They encounter each other in the +gate,--the prophet on his way to the sacrifice, the future king with +his head full of his humble quest. Samuel knows Saul by divine +intimation as soon as he sees him, but Saul does not know Samuel. His +question indicates the noble simplicity, without attendants or +trappings, of the judge's life; but it also suggests the strange +isolation of these early days, and the probable indifference of Saul to +religion. If he had cared much about God's rule in Israel, he could +scarcely have been so ignorant as his servant's words about 'the seer,' +and his failure to know him when he saw him, show Saul to have been. He +had not cared to see Samuel in any of the latter's circuits, and now he +only wants to get some information from a diviner about these +unfortunate asses. What a contrast between the thoughts of the two, as +they looked at each other! Saul begins by consulting Samuel as a +magician; he ends by seeking counsel from the witch at Endor. Samuel's +words are beautiful in their smothering of all personal feeling, and +dignified in their authority. He at once takes command of Saul, and +prepares him by half-hints for something great to come. The direction +to 'go up before me' is a sign of honour. The invitation to the +sacrificial feast is another. The promise to disclose his own secret +thoughts to Saul may, perhaps, point to some hidden ambitions, the +knowledge of which would prove Samuel's prophetic character. The +assurance as to the asses answers the small immediate occasion of +Saul's resort to him, and the dim hint in the last words of verse 20, +rightly translated, tells him that 'all that is desirable in Israel' is +for him, and for all his father's house. He went out to look for his +father's asses, and he found a kingdom. The words were enigmatical; but +if Saul knew of the impending revolution, they could scarcely fail to +dazzle him and take away his breath. His answer is more than mere +Oriental self-depreciation. Its bashful modesty contrasts sadly with +the almost insane masterfulness and arrogant self-will of his later +years. Fair beginnings may end ill, and those who are set in positions +of influence have hard work to keep steady heads, and to sail with low +sails. + +III. The feast. Up at the high place was some chamber used for the +feasts which followed the sacrifices. A company of thirty--or, +according to another reading, of seventy--persons had been invited, and +the stately young stranger from Benjamin, with his servant (a trait of +the simple manners of these days), is set in the place of honour, where +wondering eyes fasten on him. Attention is still more emphatically +centred on him when Samuel bids 'the cook' bring a part of the +sacrifice which he had been ordered to set aside. It proves to be the +'shoulder' or 'thigh,' the priest's perquisite, and therefore probably +Samuel's. To give this to another was equivalent to putting him in +Samuel's place; and Samuel's words in handing it to Saul make its +meaning plain. It is 'that which hath been reserved.' It has been 'kept +for thee' till 'the appointed time,' and that with a view to the +assembled guests. All this is in true prophetic fashion, which +delighted in symbols, and these of the homeliest sort. The whole +transaction expressed the transference of power to Saul, the divine +reserving of the monarchy for him, and the public investiture with it, +by the prophet himself. The veil was intentional, and intentionally +thin. Cannot we see the flush of surprise and modesty on Saul's cheek, +as he tore the pieces from the significant 'shoulder,' and hear the +whispers that ran through the guest-chamber? + +IV. The private colloquy. When the simple feast was over, the strangely +assorted pair went down to Samuel's house, and there, on the quiet +house-top, where were no curious ears, held long and earnest talk. No +doubt Samuel told Saul all that was in his heart, as he had said that +he would, and convinced him thereby that it was God who was speaking to +him through the prophet. Nor would exhortations and warnings be +wanting, which the old man's experience would be anxious to give, and +the young one's modesty not unwilling to receive. Saul is a listener, +not a speaker, in this unreported interview; and Samuel is in it, as +throughout, the superior. The characteristic which marked the beginning +of the Jewish monarchy was stamped on it till the end. The king was +inferior to the prophet, and was meant to take his instructions from +him when he appeared. Saul was docile on that first day, when he was +half dazed with his new prospects, and wholly grateful to Samuel; but +the history will show us how soon the fair promise of concord was +darkened, and how fiercely he chafed at Samuel's attempted control. + +One can fancy his thoughts as he lay in the starlight, on the house- +top, that night, and gazed into the astounding future that had opened +before him. Had there been any true religion in him, it would have been +a wakeful night of prayer. But, more likely, as the event proves, the +ambition and arrogance which were deep in his nature, though hitherto +undeveloped, were his counsellors, and drove Samuel's wisdom out of his +head. + +As soon as the morning-red began to rise in the East, Samuel sent him +away, to secure, as would appear, privacy in his departure. With simple +courtesy the prophet accompanied his guest, and as soon as they had got +down the hill beyond the last house of the city, he bids Saul send on +his servant, that he may speak a last word to him alone. Our text stops +before the solemn anointing, and leaves these two standing there, in +the fresh morning, type of the new career opening for one of them. What +a contrast in the men! The one has all his long life been true to his +first vow, 'Speak, for Thy servant heareth,' and now has come, in +fulness of years, and reverenced by all men, near the end of his +patient, faithful service. His work is all but done, and his heart is +quiet in the peace which is the best reward of loving and doing God's +law. Ripened wisdom, calm trust, unhesitating submission cast a glory +round the old man, who is now performing the supreme act of self- +abnegation of his lifetime, and, not without a sense of relief, is +laying the burden, so long and uncomplainingly borne, on the great +shoulders of this young giant. The other has a humble past of a few +years rapidly sinking out of his dazzled sight, and is in a whirl of +emotion at the startling suddenness of his new dignity. When one thinks +of Gilboa, and the desperate suicide there, how pathetic is that +strong, jubilant young figure, in the morning light, below the city, as +he bows his head to receive the anointing which, little as he knew it, +was to prove his ruin! A life begun by obedient listening to God's +voice, and continued in the same, comes at last to a blessed end, and +is crowned with many goods. A life which but partially accepts God's +will as its law, and rather takes counsel of its own passions and +arrogant self-sufficiency, may have much that is bright and lovable at +its beginning, but will steadily darken as it goes on, and will set at +last in eclipse and gloom. + + + + +THE KING AFTER MAN'S HEART + +'And Samuel called the people together unto the Lord to Mizpeh; 18. And +said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I +brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of +the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that +oppressed you; 19. And ye have this day rejected your God, who Himself +saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye +have said unto Him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present +yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands. 20. +And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the +tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21. When he had caused the tribe of +Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, +and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could +not be found. 22. Therefore they enquired of the Lord further, if the +man should yet come thither. And the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid +himself among the stuff. 23. And they ran and fetched him thence: and +when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people +from his shoulders and upward. 24. And Samuel said to all the people, +See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among +all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the +king. 25. Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and +wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all +the people away, every man to his house. 26. And Saul also went home to +Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had +touched. 27. But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save +us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his +peace.'--1 SAMUEL x. 17-27. + + +These verses fit on to chapter viii., chapters ix. to x. 16, being +probably from another source, inserted here because the anointing of +Saul, told in them, did occur between Samuel's dismissal of the people +and his summoning of the national assembly which is here related. That +private anointing of Saul was the divine call to him individually; the +text tells of his public designation to the nation. The two are +perfectly consistent, and, indeed, the private anointing is presupposed +in the incident recorded in this passage, of Saul's hiding himself, for +he could not have known the result that he would be 'taken,' unless he +had had that previous intimation. The assembly at Mizpah was not +convened in order to choose a king, but to accept God's choice, which +was then to be declared. + +But before the choice was announced, a last appeal was made to the +people, if, perchance, they might still be persuaded to forgo their +rebellious desire. It is not, indeed, said that this final, all but +hopeless attempt was made by Samuel at the divine command, and we are +not told that he had any further revelation than that in chapter viii. +7-9. But, no doubt, he was speaking as Jehovah's mouthpiece, and so we +have here one more instance of that long-suffering divine patience and +love which 'hopeth all things,' and lingers pleadingly round the +alienated heart, seeking to woo it back to itself, and never ceasing to +labour to avert the evil deed, till it is actually and irrevocably +done. It may be said that God knew that the appeal was sure to fail, +and therefore could not have made it. But is not that mysterious +continuance of effort, foreknown to be futile, the very paradox of +God's love? Did not Jesus give the traitor the sop, as a last token of +friendship, a last appeal to his heart? And does not God still in like +manner deal with us all? + +Observe how He seeks to win Israel back. It is not by threatenings, but +by reminders of His great benefits. He will not drive men back to His +service, like a slave-driver with brandished whip, but He wishes to +draw them back by 'the cords of love.' It is service from hearts melted +by thankfulness, and therefore overflowing in joyful, willing obedience +and grateful acts, that He desires. 'The mercies of God' should lead to +men offering themselves as 'living sacrifices.' + +The last appeal failed, and Samuel at once went on to give the people +the desired bitter which they thought so sweet. Of course, it was by +their representatives that the tribes presented themselves before God. +The manner of making God's choice known is not told, and speculations +as to it are idle. Probably a simple yes or no, as each tribe, family +or individual was 'presented' was the mode, but how it was conveyed is +quite unknown. That is a small matter; more important is it to note +that Saul was chosen simply because he was the very type of the +national ideal of a hero-king. Both here and in chapter ix. 2 his +stature and bravery are the only qualities mentioned. What Israel +wanted was a rough fighter, with physical strength, plenty of bone and +muscle. About moral, intellectual or spiritual qualities they did not +care, and they got the kind of king that they wanted,--the only kind +that they could appreciate. The only way to teach them that one who was +a head and shoulders taller than any of them was not thereby certified +to be the ideal king, was to give them such a man, and let them see +what good he would do them. + +There is no surer index nor sharper test of national or individual +character than the sort of 'heroes' they worship. _Vox populi_ has +not been very much refined since Saul's day. Athletes and soldiers +still captivate the crowd, and a mere prophet like Samuel has no chance +beside the man of broad shoulders and well-developed biceps. And very +often communities, especially democratic ones, get the 'king' they +desire, the leader, statesman or the like, who comes near their ideal. +The man whom they choose is the man whom, generally, they deserve. +Israel had an excuse for its burst of ardour for a soldier, for it was +in deadly danger from the Philistines. Is there as good an excuse for +us in Britain, in our recent adoration of successful generals? Israel +found out that its idol lacked higher gifts than thews and sinews, and +experience taught them the falseness of their ideal. + +Saul's hiding among the piles of miscellaneous baggage, which the +multitude of representatives had brought with them, is usually set down +to his credit, as indicating an engaging modesty; but there is another +and more probable explanation of it, less creditable to him. Was it not +rather occasioned by his shrinking from the heavy task that God was +laying on him? He was not being summoned to a secure throne, but to 'go +out before us, and fight our battles.' He might well shrink, but if he +had been God-fearing and God-obeying and God-trusting, he would have +cried, 'Here am I! send me,' instead of skulking among the stuff. There +was another Saul, who could say, 'I was not disobedient unto the +heavenly vision.' It had been better for the son of Kish if he had been +like the young Pharisee from Tarsus. We too have divine calls in +_our_ lives, and alas! we too not seldom hide ourselves among the +stuff, and try to avoid taking up some heavy duty, by absorbing our +minds in material good. Few things have greater power of obscuring 'the +heavenly vision,' and of rendering us unwilling to obey it, than the +clinging to the things of this world, which are in their place as the +traveller's luggage needful on the road, but very much out of their +place when they become a hiding-place for a man whom God is calling to +service. + +The 'manner of the kingdom,' which Samuel wrote and laid up before the +Lord, was probably not the same as 'the manner of the king' (chapter +viii. 9-18), but a kind of constitution, or solemn statement of the +principles which were to govern the monarchy. The reading in verse 26 +should probably be 'the men of valour,' instead of 'a band of men.' +They were brave men, 'whose hearts God had touched.' Now that Saul was +chosen by God, loyalty to God was shown by loyalty to Saul. The sin of +the people's desire, and the drop from the high ideal of the theocracy, +and the lack of lofty qualities in Saul, may all be admitted. But God +has made him king, and that is enough. Henceforward, God's servants +will be Saul's partisans. The malcontents were apparently but a small +faction. They, perhaps, had had a candidate of their own, but, at all +events, they criticised God's appointed deliverer, and saw nothing in +him to warrant the expectation that he would be able to do much for +Israel. Disparaging criticism of God's chosen instruments comes from +distrust of God who chose them. To doubt _the_ divinely sent +Deliverer's power to 'save' is to accuse God of not knowing our needs +and of miscalculating the power of His supply of them. But not a few of +us put that same question in various tones of incredulity, scorn or +indifference. Sense makes many mistakes when it takes to trying to +weigh Christ in its vulgar balances, and to settling whether He looks +like a Saviour and a King. + +SAMUEL'S CHALLENGE AND CHARGE + +'And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your +voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2. +And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and +grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before +you from my childhood unto this day. 3. Behold, here I am: witness +against me before the Lord, and before His anointed: whose ox have I +taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I +oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine +eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4. And they said, Thou hast +not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of +any man's hand. 5. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against +you, and His anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought +in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. 6. And Samuel said unto +the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that +brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7. Now therefore +stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the +righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. 8. +When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, +then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers +out of Egypt, and them dwell in this place. 9. And when they forgat the +Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the +host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand +of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10. And they cried +unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the +Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of +the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee. 11. And the Lord sent +Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out +of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. 12. And +when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against +you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the +Lord your God was your king. 13. Now therefore behold the king whom ye +have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a +king over you. 14. If ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey +His voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then +shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue +following the Lord your God: 15. But if ye will not obey the voice of +the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the +hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.'--1 +SAMUEL xii. 1-15. + +The portion of Samuel's address included in this passage has three main +sections: his noble and dignified assertion of his official purity, his +summary of the past history, and his solemn declaration of the +conditions of future wellbeing for the nation with its new king. + +I. Probably the war with the Ammonite king Nahash, which had postponed +the formal inauguration of the king, had been carried on in the +neighbourhood of the Jordan valley; and thus Gilgal would be a +convenient rendezvous. But it was chosen for other reasons also, and, +as appears from 1 Samuel x. 8, had been fixed on by Samuel at his first +interview with Saul. There the Covenant had been renewed, after the +wanderers had crossed the river, with Joshua at their head, and it was +fitting that the beginnings of the new form of the national life should +be consecrated by worship on the same site as had witnessed the +beginnings of the national life on the soil of the promised land. +Perhaps the silent stones, which Joshua reared, stood there yet. At all +events, sacred memories could scarcely fail, as the rejoicing crowd, +standing where their fathers had renewed the Covenant, saw the +blackened ruins of Jericho, and the foaming river, now, as then, +filling all its banks in the time of harvest, which their fathers had +crossed with the ark, that was now hidden at Kirjath-jearim, for their +guide. The very place spoke the same lessons from the past which Samuel +was about to teach them. + +There is just a faint trace of Samuel's disapproval of the new order in +his first words. He takes care to throw the whole responsibility on the +people; but, at the same time, he assumes the authoritative tone which +becomes him, and quietly takes the position of superiority to the king +whom he has made. I Samuel xi. 15 seems to imply that he took no part +in the rejoicings. It was 'Saul and all the men of Israel' who were so +glad. He was still hesitant as to the issue, and obeyed the divine +command with clearer insight into its purpose than the shouting crowd +and the proud young king had. There is something very pathetic in the +contrast he draws between Saul and himself. 'The king walketh before +you,' in all the vigour of his young activity, and delighting all your +eyes, and 'I am old and gray-headed,' feeble, and fit for little more +work, and therefore, as happens to such worn-out public servants, cast +aside for a new man. Samuel was not a monster of perfection without +human feelings. His sense of Israel's ingratitude to himself and +practical revolt from God lay together in his mind, and colour this +whole speech, which has a certain tone of severity, and an absence of +all congratulation. Probably that accounts for the mention of his sons. +The elders' frank statement of their low opinion of them had been a +sore point with Samuel, and he cannot help alluding to it. It was not +for want of possible successors in his own house that they had cried +out for a king. If this be not the bearing of the allusion to his sons, +it is difficult to explain; and this obvious explanation would never +have been overlooked if Samuel had not been idealised into a faultless +saint. The dash of human infirmity and fatherly blindness gives reality +to the picture. 'I have walked before you from my youth unto this day.' +Note the recurrence of the same expression as is applied to Saul in the +former part of the verse. It is as if he had said, 'Once I was as he is +now,--young and active in your sight, and for your service. Remember +these past years. May your new fancy's record be as stainless as mine +is, when he is old and grayheaded!' The words bring into view the +characteristic of Samuel's life which is often insisted on in the +earlier chapters,--its calm, unbroken continuity and uniformity of +direction, from the long-past days when he wore 'the little coat' his +mother made him, with so many tears dropped on it, till this closing +hour. While everything was rushing down to destruction in Eli's time, +and his sons were rioting at the Tabernacle door, the child was growing +up in the stillness; and from then till now, amid all changes, his +course had been steady, and pointed to one aim. Blessed they whose age +is but the fruitage of the promise of their youth! Blessed they who +begin as 'little children,' with the forgiveness of sin and the +knowledge of the Father, and who go on, as 'young men,' to overcome the +Evil One, and end, as 'fathers,' with the deeper knowledge of Him who +is 'from the beginning,' which is the reward of childhood's trust and +manhood's struggles! + +Samuel is still a prophet, but he is ceasing to be the sole authority, +and, in his conscious integrity, calls for a public, full discharge, in +the presence of the king. Note that verse 3 gives the first instance of +the use of the name 'Messiah,' and think of the contrast between Saul +and Jesus. Observe, too, the simple manners of these times, when 'ox +and ass' were the wealth. They would be poor plunder nowadays. Note +also the various forms of injustice of which he challenges any one to +convict him. Forcible seizure of live stock, fraud, harsh oppression, +and letting suitors put gold on his eyes that he might not see, are the +vices of the Eastern ruler to-day, and rampant in that unhappy land, as +they have been ever since Samuel's time. I think I have heard of +politicians in some other countries further west than Gilgal, who have +axes to grind and logs to roll, and of the wonderful effects, in many +places of business, of certain circular gold discs applied to the eyes. +This man went away a poor man. He does not seem to have had salary, or +retiring pension; but he carried away a pair of clean hands, as the +voice of a nation witnessed. + +II. Having cleared himself, Samuel recounts the outlines of the past, +in order to emphasise the law that cleaving to God had ever brought +deliverance; departure, disaster; and penitence, restoration. It is +history with a purpose, and less careful about chronology than +principles. Facts are good, if illuminated by the clear recognition of +the law which they obey; but, without that, they are lumber. The +'philosophy of history' is not reached without the plain recognition of +the working of the divine will. No doubt the principles which Samuel +discerned written as with a sunbeam on the past of Israel were +illustrated there with a certainty and directness which belonged to it +alone; but we shall make a bad use of the history of Israel, if we say, +'It is all miraculous, and therefore inapplicable to modern national +life.' It would be much nearer the mark to say, 'It is all miraculous, +and therefore meant as an exhibition for blind eyes of the eternal +principles which govern the history of all nations.' It is as true in +Britain to-day as ever it was in Judea, that righteousness and the fear +of God are the sure foundations of real national as of individual +prosperity. The kingdoms of this world are not the devil's, though +diplomatists and soldiers seem to think so. If any nation were to live +universally by the laws of God, it might not have what the world calls +national success; it would have no story of wholesale robbery, called +military glory, but it would have peace within its borders, and life +would go nobly and sweetly there. 'Happy is the people, that is in such +a case: yea, happy is the people, whose God is the Lord.' + +The details of Samuel's _resume_ need not occupy much time. Note +the word in verse 7, 'reason,' or, as the Revised Version renders, +'plead.' He takes the position of God's advocate in the suit, and what +he will prove for his client is the 'righteousness' of his dealings in +the past. The story, says he, can be brought down to very simple +elements,--a cry to God, an answer of deliverance, a relapse, +punishment, a renewed cry to God, and all the rest of the series as +before. It is like a repeating decimal, over and over again, each +figure drawing the next after it. The list of oppressors in verse 9, +and that of deliverers in verse 11, do not follow the same order, but +that matters nothing. Clearly the facts are assumed as well known, and +needing only summary reference. The new-fashioned way of treating +Biblical history, of course, takes that as an irrefutable proof of the +late date and spuriousness of this manufactured speech put into +Samuel's mouth. Less omniscient students will be content with accepting +the witness to the history. Nobody knows anything of a judge named +Bedan, and the conjectural emendation 'Barak' is probable, especially +remembering the roll-call in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where Gideon, +Barak, and Jephthah appear in the same order, with the addition of +Samson. The supposition that 'Samuel,' in this verse, is an error for +'Samson,' is unnecessary; for the prophet's mention of himself thus is +not unnatural, in the circumstances, and is less obtrusive than to have +said 'me.' + +The retrospect here given points the lesson of the sin and folly of the +demand for a king. The old way had been to cry to God in their +distresses, and the old experience had been that the answer came swift +and sufficient; but this generation had tried a new method, and fear of +'Nahash the Ammonite' had driven them to look for a man to help them. +The experience of God's responses to prayer does not always wean even +those who receive them from casting about for visible helpers. Still +less does the experience of our predecessors keep us from it. Strange +that after a hundred plain instances of His aid, the hundred and first +distress should find us almost as slow to turn to Him, and as eager to +secure earthly stays, as if there were no past of our own, or of many +generations, all crowded and bright with tokens of His care! We are +always disposed to doubt whether the power that delivered from Sisera, +Philistines, and Moab, will be able to deliver us from Nahash. The new +danger looks the very worst of all, and this time we must have a king. +All the while Israel had God for its king. Our dim eyes cannot see the +realities of the invisible world, and so we cleave to the illusions of +the visible, which, at their best, are but shadows of the real, and are +often made, by our weak hearts, its rival and substitute. What does the +soldier, who has an impenetrable armour to wear, want with pasteboard +imitations, like those worn in a play? It is doubtful wisdom to fling +away the substance in grasping at the shadow. Saul was brave, and a +head and shoulders above the people, and he had beaten Nahash for them; +but Saul for God is a poor exchange. Do we do better, when we hanker +after something more tangible than an unseen Guide, Helper, Stay, Joy, +and Peace-bringer for our hearts, and declare plainly, by our eager +race after created good, that we do not reckon God by Himself enough +for us? + +III. The part of Samuel's address with which we are concerned here +closes with the application of the history to the present time. The +great point of the last three verses is that the new order of things +has not changed the old law, which bound up well-being inseparably with +obedience. They have got their king, and there he stands; but if they +think that that is to secure their prosperity, they are much mistaken. +There is a touch of rebuke, and possibly of sarcasm, in pointing to +Saul, and making so emphatic, as in verse 13, the vehemence of their +anxiety to get him. It is almost as if Samuel had said, 'Look at him, +and say whether he is worth all that eagerness. Do you like him as +well, now that you have him, as you did before?' There are not many of +this world's goods which stand that test. The shell that looked silvery +and iridescent when in the sea is but a poor, pale reminder of its +former self, when we hold it dry in our hands. One object of desire, +and only one, brings no disappointment in possessing it. He, and only +he, who sets his hope on God, will never have to feel that he is not so +satisfied with the fulfilment as with the dream. + +Israel had rejected God in demanding a king; but the giver of their +demand had been God, and their rejection had not abolished the divine +government, nor altered one jot of the old law. They and their king +were equally its subjects. There is great emphasis in the special +mention of 'your king' as bound to obedience as much as they; and, if +we follow the Septuagint reading of verse 15, the mention is repeated +there in the threatening of punishment. No abundance of earthly +supports or objects of our love or trust in the least alters the +unalterable conditions of well-being. Whether surrounded with these or +stripped of all, to fear and serve the Lord and to hearken to His voice +is equally the requisite for all true blessedness, and is so equally to +the helper and the helped, the lover and the loved. We are ever tempted +to think that, when our wishes are granted, and some dear or strong +hand is stretched out for aid, all will be well; and we are terribly +apt to forget that we need God as much as before, and that the way of +being blessed has not changed. Those whose hearts and homes are bright +with loved faces, and whose lives are guarded by strong and wise hands, +have need to remember that they and their dear ones are under the same +conditions of well-being as are the loneliest and saddest; and they who +'have none other that fighteth for' them have no less need to remember +that, if God be their companion, they cannot be utterly solitary, nor +altogether helpless if He be their aid. + + + + +OLD TRUTH FOR A NEW EPOCH + +'Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have +desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over yon. 14. If ye will +fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not rebel against +the commandment of the Lord; then shall both ye, and also the king that +reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God: 15. But if ye +will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment +of the Lord; then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was +against your fathers. 16. Now therefore stand and see this great thing, +which the Lord will do before your eyes. 17. Is it not wheat-harvest +to-day! I will call unto the Lord, and He shall send thunder and rain; +that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye +have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. 18. So Samuel +called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and +all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. 19. And all the +people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, +that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask +us a king. 20. And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done +all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but +serve the Lord with all your heart; 21. And turn ye not aside: for then +should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, for +they are vain. 22. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His +great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His +people. 23. Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against +the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and +the right way: 24. Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all +your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you. 25. But +if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your +king.'--1 SAMUEL xii. 13-25. + + +Samuel's office as judge necessarily ended when Saul was made king, but +his office of prophet continued. This chapter deals with both the +cessation and the continuance, giving at first his dignified, and +somewhat pained, vindication of his integrity, and then passing on to +show him exercising his prophetic function in exhortation, miracle, and +authoritative declaration of Jehovah's will. + +I. The first point is the sign which Samuel gave. Usually there is no +rain in Palestine from about the end of April till October. Samuel was +speaking during the wheat harvest, which falls about the beginning of +June. We note that he volunteered the sign, and, what is still more +remarkable, that he is sure that God will send it in answer to his +prayer. Why was he thus certain? Because he recognised that the impulse +to proffer the sign came from God. We know little of the mental +processes by which a prophet could discriminate between his own +thinkings and God's speech, but such discrimination was possible, or +there could have been no ring of confidence in the prophet's 'Thus +saith the Lord.' Not even a 'Samuel among them that call upon His name' +had a right to assume that every asking would certainly have an answer. +It is when we ask 'anything according to His will' that we know that +'He heareth us,' and are entitled to predict to others the sure answer. + +It seems a long leap logically from hearing the thunder and seeing the +rain rushing down on the harvest field, to recognising the sin of +asking for a king. But the connecting steps are plain. Samuel announced +the storm, he asked God to send it, it came at his word; therefore he +was approved of God and was His messenger; therefore his words about +the desire for a king were God's words. Again, God sent the tempest; +therefore God ruled the elemental powers, and wielded them so as to +affect Israel, and therefore it had been folly and sin to wish for +another defender. So the result of the thunder-burst was twofold--they +'feared Jehovah and Samuel,' and they confessed their sin in desiring a +king. They were but rude and sense-bound men, like children in many +respects; their religion was little more than outward worship and a +vague awe; they needed 'signs' as children need picture-books. The very +slightness and superficiality of their religion made their confession +easy and swift, and neither the one nor the other went deep enough to +be lasting. The faith that is built on 'signs and wonders' is easily +battered down; the repentance that is due to a thunderstorm is over as +soon as the sun comes out again. The shallowness of the contrition in +this case is shown by two things,--the request to Samuel to pray for +them, and the boon which they begged him to ask, 'that we die not.' +They had better have prayed for themselves, and they had better have +asked for strength to cleave to Jehovah. They were like Simon Magus +cowering before Peter, and beseeching him, 'Pray ye for me to the Lord, +that none of the things which ye have spoken may come upon me.' That is +not the voice of true repentance, the 'godly sorrow' which works +healing and life, but that of the 'sorrow of the world which worketh +death.' The real penitent will press the closer to the forgiving +Father, and his cry will be for purity even more than for pardon. + +II. Samuel's closing words are tender, wise, and full of great truths. +He begins with encouragement blended with reiteration of the people's +sin. It is not safe for a forgiven man to forget his sin quickly. The +more sure he is that God has forgotten, the more careful he should be +to remember it, for gratitude, humility and watchfulness. But it should +never loom so large before him as to shut out the sunshine of God's +love, for no fruits of goodness will ripen in character without that +light. It is a great piece of practical wisdom always to keep one's +forgiven sin in mind, and yet not to let it paralyse hopefulness and +effort. 'Ye have indeed done all this evil, ... yet turn not aside from +following Jehovah.' That is a truly evangelical exhortation. The memory +of past failures is never to set the tune for future service. Again, +Samuel based the exhortation to whole-hearted service of Jehovah on +Jehovah's faithfulness and great benefits (vs. 22-24), It is suicidal +folly to turn away from Him who never turns away from us; it is black +ingratitude, as well as suicidal folly, to refuse to serve Him whose +mercies encompass us. That divine good pleasure, which has no source +but in Himself, flows out like an artesian well, unceasing. His 'nature +and property' is to love. His past is the prophecy of His future. He +will always be what He has been, and always do what He has done. +Therefore we need not fear, though we change and are faithless. 'He +cannot deny Himself.' His revealed character would be dimmed if He +abandoned a soul that clung to Him. So our faith should, in some +measure, match His faithfulness, and we should build firmly on the firm +foundation. + +III. Samuel answers the people's request for his prayers with a wise +word, full of affection, and also full of dignity and warning, all the +more impressive because veiled. He promises his continued intercession, +but he puts it as a duty which he owes to God rather than to them only, +and he thus sufficiently asserts his God-appointed office. He promises +to do more than pray for them; namely, to continue as their ethical and +religious guide, which they had not asked him to be. That at once makes +his future position in the monarchy clear. He is still the prophet, +though no longer the judge, and, as the future was to show, he has to +direct monarch as well as people. But it also hints to the people that +his prayers for them will be of little avail unless they listen to his +teaching. Whether a Samuel prays for us or not, if we do not listen to +the voices that bid us serve God, we 'shall be consumed.' + + + + +SAUL REJECTED + +'Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, 11. It repenteth +Me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from +following Me, and hath not performed My commandments. And it grieved +Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. 12. And when Samuel rose +early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul +came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, +and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13. And Samuel came to Saul: +and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed +the commandment of the Lord. 14. And Samuel said, What meaneth then +this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen +which I hear? 15. And Saul said, They have brought them from the +Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the +oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lore thy God; and the rest we have utterly +destroyed. 16. Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee +what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. +17. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast +thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed +thee king over Israel? 18. And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and +said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight +against them until they be consumed. 19. Wherefore then didst thou not +obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst +evil in the sight of the Lord? 20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I +have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord +sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly +destroyed the Amalekites. 21. But the people took of the spoil, sheep +and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly +destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. 22. And Samuel +said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, +as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than +sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23. For rebellion is as +the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. +Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected +thee from being king.'--1 SAMUEL xv. 10-23. + + +Again the narrative takes us to Gilgal,--a fateful place for Saul, +There they 'made Saul king before the Lord'; there he had taken the +first step on his dark way of gloomy, proud self-will, down which he +was destined to plunge so far and fatally. There he had, in +consequence, received the message of the transference of the kingdom +from his house, though not from himself. Now, flushed with his victory +over Amalek, he has come there with his troops, laden with spoil. They +had made a swift march from the south where Amalek dwelt, passing by +Nabal's Carmel, where they had put up some sort of monument of their +exploit in a temper of vain-glory, very unlike the spirit which reared +the stone of help at Eben-ezer; and apparently they purpose sacrifices +and a feast. But Samuel comes into camp with no look of congratulation. +Probably the vigorous old man had walked that day from his home, some +fifteen miles off, and on the way seems to have picked up tidings of +Saul's victory and position, which ought to have reached him from the +king himself, and would have done so if Saul's conscience had been +clear. The omission to tell him was studied neglect, which revealed +much. + +Samuel had 'cried unto the Lord all night,' if perchance the terrible +sentence might be reversed; and his cries had not been in vain, for +they had brought him into complete submission, and had nerved him to do +his work calmly, without a quiver or a pang of personal feeling, as +becomes God's prophet. + + +I. We must go back a step beyond this passage to understand it. Note, +first, the command which was disobeyed. The campaign against Amalek was +undertaken by express divine direction through Samuel's lips. It was +the delayed fulfilment of a sentence passed in the times of the +Conquest, but not executed then. The terrible old usages of that period +are brought into play again, and the whole nation with its possessions +is 'devoted'. The word explains the dreadful usage. There are two kinds +of devotion to God: that of willing, and that of unwilling, men; the +one brings life, the other, death. The massacre of the foul nations of +Canaan was thereby made a direct divine judgment, and removed wholly +from the region of ferocious warfare. No doubt, the whole plane of +morals in the earlier revelation is lower than that of the New +Testament. If Jesus has not taught a higher law than was given to 'them +of old time,' one large part of His gift to men disappears. The +wholesale destruction of 'babe and suckling' with the guilty makes us +shudder; and we are meant to feel the difference between the atmosphere +of that time and ours. But we are not meant to question the reality of +the divine command, nor His right to give it. He slays, and makes +alive. His judgments strike the innocent with the guilty. In many a +case, and often, the sin is one generation's, and the bitter fruit +another's. The destruction of Canaanites and Amalekites does not change +its nature because God used men to do it; and the question is not +whether the Israelites were fiercely barbarous in their warfare, but +whether God has the right of life and death. We grant all the +dreadfulness, and joyfully admit the distance between such acts and +Jesus Christ; but we recognise them as not incongruous with the whole +revealed character of the God who is justice as well as love, as +parallel in substance, though different in instrument, with many of His +dealings with men,--as the execution of righteous sentence on rank +corruption, and as sweetening the world by its removal. Most of the +difficulty and repugnance has been caused by forgetting that Israel was +but the sword, while the hand was God's. + +II. Note the disobedience. Partial obedience is complete disobedience. +Saul and his men obeyed as far as suited them; that is to say, they did +not obey God at all, but their own inclinations, both in sparing the +good and in destroying the worthless. What was not worth carrying off +they destroyed,--not because of the command, but to save trouble. This +one fault seems but a small thing to entail the loss of a kingdom. But +is it so? It was obviously not an isolated act on Saul's part, but +indicated his growing impatience of the divine control, exercised on +him through Samuel. He was in a difficult position. He owed his kingdom +to the prophet; and the very condition on which he held it was that of +submission to Samuel's authority. No wonder that his elevation +quickened the growth of his masterfulness and gloomy, impetuous self- +will,--traits in his character which showed themselves very early in +his reign! No wonder either that such a king, held in leading-strings +by a prophet, should chafe! The more insignificant the act in itself, +the more significant it may be as a flag of revolt. Disobedience which +will not do a little thing is great disobedience. Nor was this the +first time that Saul had 'kicked,' like another Saul, 'against the +pricks,' Gilgal had seen a previous instance of his impetuous self- +assertion, masked by apparent deference; and the inference is fair that +the interval between the two pieces of rebellion had been of a piece +with them. Trivial acts, especially when repeated, show deep-seated +evil. There may be only a coil of the snake visible, but that betrays +the presence of the slimy folds, though they are covered from sight +among the leaves. The tiny shoot of a plant, peeping above the ground, +does not augur that the roots are short; they may run for yards. Nor +can any act be called small, of which the motive is disregard of God's +plain command: 'He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.' +Saul had never much religion. He had never heard of Samuel till that +day when he came to consult him about the asses. It was a wonder to his +acquaintances to find him 'among the prophets'; and all his acts of +worship have about them a smack of self, and an exclusive regard to the +mere externals of sacrifice, which imply a shallow notion of religion +and a spirit unsubdued by its deeper influences. + +Such a man habitually acts in disregard of God's will; and that is +great sin, though it be manifested in small acts. It is to be +remembered, too, that the excepting of the best of the spoil from the +general destruction, changed the whole character of the transaction, +and brought it down from the level of a solemn act of divine justice, +of which Saul and his army were the executors by divine mandate, to +that of a mere cattle-lifting foray, in which they were but thieves for +their own gain. The mingling of personal advantage with any sort of +service of God, ruins the whole, and turns it into mere selfishness. +Samuel, in verse 19, puts the two sides of this 'evil in the sight of +the Lord' as being disobedience and swooping down on the booty, like +some bird of prey, + +III. Note Saul's excuses. Throughout the whole interview he plays a +sorry part, and is evidently cowed by the hated authority and +personality of the old man; while Samuel, on his side, is curt, stern, +and takes the upper hand, as becomes God's messenger. The relative +positions of the two men are the normal ones of their offices, and +explain both Saul's revolt and the chronic impatience of kings at the +interference of prophets. Here we have Saul coming to meet Samuel with +affected heartiness and welcome, and with the bold lie, 'I have +performed the commandment of the Lord.' That is more than true +obedience is quick to say. If Saul had done it, he would have been +slower to boast of it. 'Those vessels yield the most sound that have +the least liquor.' He 'doth protest too much'; and the protestation +comes from an uneasy conscience. Or did he, like a great many other men +who have no deep sense of the sanctity of every jot and tittle of a +divine law, please himself with the notion that it was enough to keep +it approximately, in the 'spirit' of the precept, without slavish +obedience to the 'letter'? In a later part of the interview (v. 20) he +insists that he has obeyed, and tries to prove it by dwelling on the +points in which he did so, and gliding lightly over the others. + +'Samuel had reason to believe the sheep and oxen above Saul'; and there +is a tone of almost contempt for the shuffling liar in his quiet +question: 'What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, +and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' There was no answering that; +so Saul shifts his ground without a blush or a moment's hesitation. +'The people spared.' It is a new character for him to appear in,--that +of a weak ruler who cannot keep his unruly men in order! Had he tried +to restrain them? If he had, and had failed, he was not fit to be a +king. If he had not, he was a coward to shift the blame on to them. How +ready men are to vilify themselves in some other direction, in order to +escape the consciousness of sin, which God is seeking to force home on +them! No doubt the people were very willing to have a finger in the +affair; but so was he. And if the cattle was their share, Agag, who +could be held to ransom, was his; and the arrangement suited all round. +As to the purpose of sacrificing at Gilgal, perhaps that was true; but +if it were, no doubt the same process of selection, which had destroyed +the worthless and kept the best, would have been repeated; and the net +result would have been a sacrifice of the least valuable, and 'the +survival of the fittest' in many a pasture and stall. + +But note Saul's attitude towards Jehovah, betrayed by him in that one +word: 'the Lord _thy_ God,' No wonder that he had been content +with a partial and perfunctory obedience, if he had no closer sense of +connection with God than that! There is almost a sneer in it, too, as +if he had said, 'What needs all this fuss about saving the cattle? You +should be pleased; for this Jehovah, with whom you profess to have +special communication, will be honoured with sacrifice, and you will +share in the feast.' If the words do not mean abjuring Jehovah, they go +very near it, and, at all events, betray the shallowness of Saul's +religion. Samuel, in his answer, reminds him of his early modesty and +self-distrust, and of the source of his elevation. He then sweeps away +the flimsy cobwebs of excuses, by the curt repetition of the plain, +dreadful terms of Saul's commission, and then flashes out the piercing +question, like a sword, 'Wherefore then didst thou not?' The reminder +of past benefits, and the reiteration of the plain injunctions which +have been broken, are the way to cut through the poor palliations which +men wrap around their sins. + +It speaks of a very obstinate and gloomy determination that, in answer, +Saul should reiterate his protestation of having done as he was bid. He +doggedly says over again all that he had said before, unmoved by the +prophet's solemn words. He is steeling his heart against reproof; and +there is only one end to that. Sin unacknowledged, after God has +disclosed it, is doubly sin. The heart that answers the touch of God's +rebukes by sullenly closing more tightly on its evil, is preparing +itself for the blow of the hammer which will crush it. 'He that being +often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and +that without remedy.' Let us beware of meeting God's prophet with +shuffling lies about our obedience, and of opposing to the words which +are loving though they pierce, the armour of impenetrable self- +righteousness and conceit. + +IV. Note the punishment. To the vain talk about honouring God by +sacrifice, Samuel opposes the great principle which was the special +message committed to every prophet in Israel, and which was repeated +all through its history, side by side with the divinely appointed +sacrificial system. In the intensity of his spiritual emotion, Samuel +speaks in lyric strains, in the measured parallelism which was the +Hebrew dress of poetry, and gives forth in words 'which will live for +ever' the great truth that God delights in obedience more than in +sacrifice. Whilst, on the one hand, he lifts the surrender of the will, +and the consequent submission of the life, high above all mere ritual, +on the other hand, by the same process, he sinks the rebellion of the +will and the stubbornness of the nature, unsubdued either by kindness +or threats, as Saul was showing his to be, to the level of actual +idolatry. + + 'Rebellion is divination, + And stubbornness is idols and teraphim.' + +Then comes the stern sentence of rejection. Why was Saul thus +irrevocably set aside? Was it not a harsh punishment for such a crime? +As we have already remarked, Saul's act is not to be judged as an +isolated deed, but as the outcome of a deep tendency in him, which +meant revolt from God. It was not because of the single act, but +because of that which it showed him to be, that he was set aside. The +sentence is pronounced, not because 'thou didst spare Amalek,' but +because 'thou didst reject the word of the Lord.' Further, it is to be +remembered that the punishment was but the carrying out of his act. His +own hand had cut the bond between him and God, and had disqualified +himself for the office which he filled. Saul had said, 'I will reign by +myself.' God said, 'Be it so! By thyself thou shalt reign.' For the +consequence of his deposition was not outward change in his royalty. +David indeed was anointed but in secret, so Samuel consented to honour +Saul before the people. All the external difference was that Samuel +never saw him again, and he was relieved from the incubus of the +prophet's 'interference'; that is to say, he ceased to be God's king, +and became a phantom, ruling only by his own will and power, as he had +wished to do. How profound may be the difference while all externals +remain unchanged! When we set up ourselves as our own lords, and shake +off God's rule, we cast away His sanction and help in all the deeds of +our self-will, however unaltered their outward appearance may remain. +But God left him to 'walk in his own ways, and be filled with the fruit +of his own devices,' by no irrevocable abandonment, however the decree +of rejection from the kingship was irrevocable. The gates of repentance +stood open for him; and the very sentence that came stern and laconic +from Samuel's lips, rightly accepted, might have drawn him in true +penitence to a forgiving God. His subsequent confession was rejected +because it expressed no real contrition; and the worship which he +proceeded to offer, without the sanction of the prophet's presence, was +as unreal as his protestation of obedience, and showed how little he +had learned the lesson of the great words, 'To obey is better than +sacrifice.' + + + + +THE SHEPHERD-KING + +'And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt them mourn for Saul, +seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel! fill thine horn +with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I +have provided Me a king among his sons. 2. And Samuel said, How can I +go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer +with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. 3. And call +Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and +thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee. 4. And Samuel did +that which the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of +the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5. +And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify +yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse +and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6. And it came to pass, +when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the +Lord's anointed is before him. 7. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look +not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have +refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on +the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 8. Then +Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, +Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 9. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass +by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 10. Again, Jesse +made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto +Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. 11. And Samuel said unto Jesse, +Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the +youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto +Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come +hither. 12. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and +withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord +said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13. Then Samuel took the horn +of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit +of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, +and went to Ramah.'--1 SAMUEL xvi 1-13. + + +The chief purpose in these verses is to bring out that the choice of +David was purely God's. The most consummate art could have taken no +better way of heightening the effect of his first appearance than that +adopted in this perfectly unartificial story, which leads us up a long +avenue to where the shepherd-boy stands. First, we have Samuel, with +his regrets and objections; then Jesse with his seven stalwart sons; +and at last, when expectation has been heightened by delay and by the +minute previous details, the future king is disclosed,--a stripling +with his ruddy locks glistening with the anointing oil, and his lovely +eyes. We shall best catch the spirit by simply following the letter of +the story. + +I. We have Samuel and his errand to Bethlehem. After that sad day at +Gilgal, he and Saul met no more, though their homes were but a few +miles apart, and it must have been difficult to avoid each other. +Samuel yearned over the man whom he had learned to love, and it must +have been pain to him to see the shattering of the vessel which he had +formed. However natural his mourning, and however indicative of his +sweet nature, it was wrong, because it showed that he had not yet +reconciled himself to God's purpose, though his conduct obeyed. The +mourning which submits while it weeps, and which interferes with no +duty, is never rebuked by God. He never says,' How long dost thou +mourn?' unless sorrow has deepened into accusation of His providence, +or tears have blinded us to the duty that ensues. But the true cure for +overmuch sorrow is work, and, for vain regrets after vanished good, the +welcome to the new good which God ever sends to fill the empty place. +His resources are not exhausted because one man has failed. 'There are +as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it.' Saul has been +rejected, but a king shall be found; and Samuel is to dry his tears and +anoint him. He evidently had no thought of a successor to Saul till +this command came; and when it comes, how little it tells him! He gets +light enough for the next step, but no more. That is always God's way. +Duty opens by degrees, and the way to see farther ahead is to go as far +as we see. + +Samuel's sorrow and the incomplete command show plainly that he was but +an instrument. At every step the view is confuted which makes him a +far-seeing statesman who inaugurated and carried through a peaceful +revolution. The history, which is our only source, tells another story, +and makes God the actor, and the prophet only a tool in His hands. If +we cut the supernatural out of the story, the fragments do not hang +together, and no reason is forthcoming why they should be any more true +than are the rejected pieces. Samuel does not show to advantage in +either of the two things mentioned about him here. In neither was he +true to his early vow, 'Speak, for Thy servant heareth.' But there was +much reason for his fear, if once God was left out of the account; for +Saul's ever-wakeful suspicion had become a disease, and it was not +wonderful that he should be on the watch for any act which looked like +putting the sentence of deposition into effect. If ever a man lived +with a sword hanging by a hair over him, it was this unhappy king, who +knew that he was dethroned, and did not know when or by whom the divine +rejection would be made visible to all men. But Samuel had faced worse +dangers without a murmur; and no doubt his alarm now, which makes him +venture all but flatly to refuse to obey, indicates that, to some +extent, he had lost his hold of God by his indulgence in his sorrow. If +he had been true to his high calling, he would have 'filled his horn,' +and gone on God's errand, careless of a hundred Sauls or a hundred +deaths. But it is easy for us, who have never perilled anything for +obedience, to sit in judgment on him. 'Wherein thou judgest another, +thou condemnest thyself.' God judges him mercifully, and provides a +shelter for his weakness, which he should not have needed. To hide his +true errand behind the cloak of the sacrifice was second-best, and only +permitted in consideration of his fear which had a touch of sin in it. +He was not, at the moment, up to treading the heroic plain path; and +God opened an easier one for him. It is sometimes allowable to use an +avowed purpose to conceal the real one, but it is a permission which +should be very sparingly used. + +II. We have Samuel at Bethlehem, with Jesse and his sons. An old man is +suddenly seen coming up the hill to the gate of the little city on +foot, driving or leading a heifer, and carrying a horn in his hand. In +such humble fashion did the prophet travel; but reverential awe met +him, and his long years of noble service surrounded him as with a halo. +Apparently, Bethlehem had not been included in his usual circuits, and +the village elders were somewhat scared by his sudden appearance. Their +question may give a glimpse into the severity which Samuel sometimes +had to show, and is a strange testimony to the reality of his power: +'Comest thou peaceably?' One old man was no very formidable assailant +of a village, even if he did not come with friendly intent; but, if he +is recognised as God's messenger, his words are sharper than any two- +edged sword, and his unarmed hand bears weapons mighty to 'pull down +strongholds.' Why should the elders have thought that he came 'with a +rod'? Because they knew that they and their fellow-villagers deserved +it. If men were not dimly conscious of sin, they would not be afraid of +God's messenger or of God. + +The narrative does not tell whether or not the sacrifice preceded the +review of Jesse's sons. Probably it did, and the interval between it +and the feast was occupied in the interview. It is evident that Samuel +kept the reason of his wish to see Jesse's sons to himself; for +disclosure would have brought about the danger which he was so anxious +to avoid. It appears, too, from verse 13, that only the family of Jesse +were present. So we have to fancy the wondering little cluster of burly +husbandmen with their father surrounding the prophet, and: one by one, +bracing themselves to meet his searching gaze. Again the choice is +emphatically represented as God's, by the mention of Samuel's hasty +conclusion, from the look of the eldest, that he was the man. Had not +Samuel had enough of kings of towering stature? Strange that he should +have been in such a hurry to fix on a second edition of Saul! The most +obedient waiters on God sometimes outrun His intimations, and they +always go wrong when they do. Samuel has to learn two lessons, as he is +bidden to repress the too quick thought: one, that he is not choosing, +but only registering God's choice; and one, that the qualifications for +God's king are inward, not bodily. In these old days, the world's +monarchs had to be men of thews and sinews, for power rested on mere +brute force: but God's chosen had to rule, not by the strength of his +own arm, but by leaning on God's. The genius of the kingdom determined +the principle of selection of its king. Samuel does not again attempt +to forecast the choice; but he lets the other six pass, and, hearing no +inward voice from God, tells Jesse, as it would seem, that the Lord has +not chosen them for whatsoever mysterious purpose was in His mind. + +III. We have 'the Lord's chosen.' Samuel was staggered by the apparent +failure of his errand. God had told him that he had provided a king +from this family, and now they had passed in review before him, and +none was chosen. Again he is made to feel his own impotence, and his +question, 'Are here all thy children?' has a touch of bewilderment in +it. God seldom shows us His choice at first; and both in thought and +practice we get at the precious and the true by a process of exclusion, +having often to reject 'seven' before we find in some all-but-forgotten +'eighth' that which we seek. David's insignificance in Jesse's eyes was +such that his father would never have remembered his existence but for +the question, and his answer is a kind of assurance to the prophet that +he need not take the trouble to see the boy, for he will never do for +whatever he may have in view. His youth and occupation put him out of +the question. We know, from the other parts of his story, that his +brothers had no love for him; nor does his father seem to have had +much. Probably the lad had the usual lot of genius,--to grow up among +uncongenial, commonplace people, understanding him little, and liking +him less. It is a hard school; but where it does not sour, it makes +strong men. His solitary shepherd life taught him many precious +lessons, and, at any rate, gave him the priceless gift of solitude, +which is the nurse of poetry, heroism, and religion. The glorious +night-piece in Psalm viii., and its companion day-piece in Psalm xix., +may bear the impress of the shepherd life; which is idealised and +sanctified for ever in the immortal sweetness of Psalm xxiii. There +were many worse schools for the future king than a solitary shepherd's +life on the bare hills round Bethlehem. + +The delay of the feast and the pause of idle waiting heighten the +expectation with which we look for David's coming. When he does come, +what a bright young figure is lovingly painted for us! He is 'ruddy, +and withal fair of eyes, and goodly to look upon,'--of fair complexion, +with golden hair (rare among these swarthy Orientals), and with +lustrous poet's eyes. What a contrast to Saul's grim face and figure,-- +like a sunbeam streaming athwart a thunder-cloud seamed with its own +lightning! Silently the divine voice spoke, and silently, as it would +seem, Samuel poured the oil on the boy's bowed curls. No word of the +purpose escaped his lips, and the awestruck youth was left to wonder +for what high destiny he was chosen. One can fancy the looks of his +brothers as they bitterly watched the anointing with hearts full of +envy, contempt, and rage. I Samuel xvii. 28 shows what they felt to +David. + +What was the use of this enigmatical anointing for an undisclosed +purpose? It is Samuel's last act, and his last appearance, except for +the mention of David's flight to him from the court of Saul, and that +weird scene of Saul prophesying and lying naked before Samuel and David +for a day and a night. It was therefore the solemn final act of the +prophet,--transferring the monarchy; but it was for David the +beginning of his training for the throne, in two ways, 'The Spirit of +the Lord came upon David from that day forward.' There was an actual +communication of divine gifts fitting him for his unknown office, and +he was conscious of a new spirit stirring in him. Beside this, the +consciousness of a call to unknown tasks would mature him fast, and +bring graver thoughts, humbler sense of weakness, and clinging trust in +God who had laid the burden on him; and the necessity for repressing +his dreams of the future, in order to do his obscure present duties, +would add patience and self-control to his youthful ardour. What a +whirl of thoughts he carried back to his flock, and how welcome would +the solitude be! + +The great lesson here is the one so continually reiterated in +Scripture, from Isaac downwards, that God 'chooses the weak things of +the world to confound the things that are mighty,' and thereby +magnifies both the sovereign freedom of His choice and the power of His +Spirit, which takes the stripling from the sheepcotes and qualifies him +to be the antagonist of the grim Saul, and the king of Israel. There +are subsidiary lessons, especially for young and ardent souls confined +for the present to lowly tasks, and feeling some call to something +higher in a dim future. Patience, the faithful doing of to-day's +trivial tasks, the habit of self-repression, the quiet trust in God who +opens the way in due time,--these, and such like, were the signs that +David was called to a throne, and that God's Spirit was preparing him +for it. They are the virtues which will best prepare us for whatever +the future may have in store for us, and will be in themselves abundant +reward, whether they draw after them a high position, which is a heavy +burden, or, more happily, leave us in our sheltered obscurity. + + + + +THE VICTORY OF UNARMED FAITH + +'And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy +servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33. And Saul said to +David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with +him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34. +And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and +there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; 35. And +I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: +and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, +and slew him. 36. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this +uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied +the armies of the living God. 37. David said moreover, The Lord that +delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the +bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul +said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. 38. And Saul armed +David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; +also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39. And David girded his sword +upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And +David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved +them. And David put them off him. 40. And he took his staff in his +hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them +in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in +his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 41. And the Philistine +came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went +before him. 42. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he +disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair +countenance. 43. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that +thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his +gods. 44. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give +thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. +45. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, +and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of +the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast +defied. 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I +will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the +carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the +air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know +that there is a God in Israel. 47. And all this assembly shall know +that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the +Lord's, and He will give you into our hands. 48. And it came to pass, +when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that +David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49. And +David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, +and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his +forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50. So David +prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote +the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of +David. 51. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took +his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut +off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was +dead, they fled.'--1 SAMUEL xvii. 32-51. + + +The scene of David's victory has been identified in the present Wady +Es-Sunt, which still possesses one of the terebinth-trees which gave it +its name of 'Elah.' At that point it is about a quarter of a mile wide, +and runs nearly east and west. In the centre is 'a deep trench or +gulley, the sides and bed of which are strewn with rounded and water- +worn pebbles.' This is the 'valley,' or rather 'ravine' of verse 3 of +this chapter, which is described by a different word from that for +'vale' in verse 2--the one meaning a much broader opening than the +other--and from it came the 'five smooth stones.' Notice the minute +topographical accuracy, which indicates history, not legend. The +pebble-bed may supply a missile to hit the modern 'giant' of sceptical +criticism, who boasts much after Goliath's fashion. + +The two armies lay looking at each other across the valley, with +occasional skirmishes; and for forty days (probably a round number) +Goliath paraded on his own, the south, side of the gulley, shouting out +his taunts and challenge with a voice like a bull. Many a similar scene +in classical and mediaeval warfare confirms the truth of the picture, +so unlike modern battles. The story is, for all time, the example of +the victory of unarmed faith over the world's utmost might. It is in +little the history of the Church and the type of all battles for God. +It is a pattern for the young especially. The youthful athlete leaps +into the arena, and overcomes, not because of his own strength, but +because he trusts in God. + +I. Note the glowing youthful enthusiasm which dares the conflict. When +the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, his courage seems to have gone too, +and he is cowed, like the rest, by Goliath. His interview with David +shows him as timid and unlike his former self, when he dashed at Nahash +and any odds. Now he is hardly to be roused, even by David's contagious +boldness, and is full of objections and precautions. The temper of the +two, as they front each other in Saul's tent, shows that the one has +lost, and the other received, the Spirit which strengthens. David has +become the encourager, and his cheery words bring some hopefulness to +the gloomy, faint-hearted king. The Septuagint has a variant reading in +verse 32, which brings this out and suits the context, 'Let not my +lord's heart fail.' But, whether this be adopted or no, David appears +as quite unaffected by the terror which had unmanned the army, and as +bringing a buoyant disregard of the enemy, like a reviving breeze. It +was not merely youthful daring, nor foolish under-estimation of the +danger, which prompted his stimulating words. The ring of true faith is +in them, and they show us how we may surround ourselves with an +atmosphere which will keep prevailing faint-heartedness off us, and +make us, like Gideon's fleece, impervious to the chill mists of +faithless fear which saturate all around. He who trusts in God should +be as a pillar of fire, burning bright in the darkness of terror, and +making a rallying point for weaker hearts. When panic has seized +others, the Christian soul has the more reason for courage. David +conquered the temptation to share in the general cowardice, before he +conquered Goliath, and perhaps the former fight was the worse of the +two. + +While David is the embodiment of the courage of faith, Saul embodies +worldly wisdom and calculating prudence. A touch of tenderness blends +with his attempt to dissuade the lad from the unequal conflict. He +speaks of probabilities, and, like all such calculation, his results +are quite right, only that he has not taken all the forces into +account, and the omission vitiates the conclusion. It is quite true +that David is but a youth, and Goliath a giant and a veteran; but is +that all that is to be said? If it be, then the lad cannot fight the +Philistine bully; but if Saul has made the small omission of leaving +out God, that makes a difference. The same mistake is constantly made +still, and so the victories of faith are a constant surprise to the +world and to a worldly Church. David's eager story of his fights with +wild beasts is meant both to answer Saul's objection on his own ground, +by showing him that, youth as the speaker was, he had proved his power, +and still more to supply the lacking element in the calculation. So he +tells, first, how 'I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew +him,' and then at the end brings in the true ground of his confidence: +'The Lord that delivered me ... He will deliver.' As Thomas Fuller +says, 'He made an experimental syllogism, and from most practical +premises (major a lion, minor a bear), inferred the direct conclusion +that God would give him victory over Goliath. Faith has the right thus +to argue from the past to the future, because it draws from God whose +resources and patience are equally inexhaustible. An echo of the words +comes from Paul's 'Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth +deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver.' There is infinite +pathos in Saul's parting blessing. 'The Lord be with thee!' is spoken +as if from the consciousness that the Lord had left _him_, and +that _his_ day for going into battle with the assurance of His +help was gone for ever. If that softened mood had lasted, how different +his future might have been! If we modestly and boldly show the power of +faith in our lives, we may kindle yearnings in some gloomy hearts, that +would lead them to peace, if followed out. + +II. The equipment of faith. Saul meant to honour as well as to secure +David by dressing him in his own royal attire, and by encumbering him +by the help of sword and helmet. And David was willing to be so fitted +out, for it is no part of the courage of faith to disdain any outward +helps. But he soon found that he could not move freely in the +unaccustomed armour, and flung it off, like a wise man. His motive was +partly common sense, which told him not to choose weapons that his +antagonist could handle better than he; and partly reliance on God, +which told him that he was safer with no armour but his shepherd's +dress and with only his sling in his hand. So there he stands, drawn +for us with wonderful vividness, in one hand his staff, in the other +his sling, both familiar and often used, and by his side the simple +wallet which had held his frugal meal, and now received the smooth +pebbles that he picked up as he passed the gulley to the Philistine +side of the valley. + +How graphically the contrast is drawn between him and Goliath, as the +latter conies forth swelling with his own magnificence, and preceded by +his shield-bearer! He was 'brass' all over; note the kind of amused +emphasis with which the word is repeated in the half-satirical and +marvellously lifelike portrait of him in verses 5-8; 'brass' here, +'brass' there, 'brass' everywhere; and, not content with one shield +dangling at his back, he has a man to carry another in front of him as +he struts. David seems to have crossed the ravine, and to have come +close up to Goliath before he was observed; and then, with almost a +snort of contempt, the giant resents the insult of sending such a foe +to fight _him_ with such weapons. Perhaps he was nearer the truth +than he thought, when he asked if he was a dog; and any stick will do, +as the proverb says, to beat that animal, especially if God guards the +hand that holds it. + +The five smooth stones have become the symbol of the insignificant +means, in the world's estimate, which God uses in faithful hands to +slay the giants of evil. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but +they are mighty. Faith unarmed is armed with more than triple steel, +and a sling in its hand is more fatal than a sword. Sometimes in +kindness and sometimes in malice, the world tempts us to fight evil +with its own weapons, and to put on its unfamiliar armour. The Church +as a whole, and individual Christians, have often been hampered, and +all but smothered, in Saul's harness. The more simply we keep ourselves +to the simple methods which the word of God enjoins, and to the simple +weapons which ought to be the easiest for a Christian, the more likely +shall we be to conquer. Goliath is not to be encountered with sword and +armour which is, after all, but a shabby copy of the tons of brass +which he wears, but he does not know what to make of the sling, and +does not see the stone till it crashes his skull in. + +III. Note faith's anticipation of victory. The dialogue before the +battle has many parallels in classical times and among savage peoples. +Goliath's bluster is full of contempt of David and truculent self- +confidence. Its coarseness is characteristic,--he will make his boyish +antagonist food for vultures and jackals. It is exactly what a bully +would say. David's answer throbs with buoyant confidence, and stands as +a stimulating example of the temper in which God's soldiers should go +out to every fight, no matter against what odds. It fully recognises +the formidable armoury of the enemy,--sword for close quarters, spear +to thrust with, and javelin to fling from a distance, every weapon that +ingenuity could fashion and trained skill could wield. Goliath was a +walking arsenal, and little David took count of his weapons as they +clanked and flashed. It is no part of faith's triumph to ignore the +number and sharpness of the enemy's arms. But faith sees them all, and +keeps unterrified and unashamed of the poor leathern sling and smooth +stones. The unarmed hand which grasps God's hand should never tremble; +and he who can say 'I come ... in the name of the Lord of hosts,' has +no need to be afraid of an army of Goliaths, though each bristled with +swords and spears like a porcupine. + +The great name on which David's faith rested, 'the Lord of hosts,' +appears to have sprung into use in this epoch, and to have been one +precious fruit of its frequent wars. Conflict is blessed if it teaches +the knowledge of the unseen Commander who marshals not only men, but +all the forces of the universe and the armies of heaven, for the +defence of His servants and the victory of His own cause. The fulness +of the divine name is learned by degrees, as our needs impress the +various aspects of His character; and the revelation contained in this +appellation is the gift of that fierce and stormy time, a possession +for ever. He who defies the armies of Israel has to reckon with the +Lord of these armies, whose name proclaims at once His eternal, self- +originated, and self-sustained being, His covenant, His presence with +His earthly host, and the infinite ranks of obedient creatures who are +His soldiers and their allies. That is 'the Name' in the strength of +which we may 'set up our banners' and be sure of victory. Note how +David flings back Goliath's taunts in his teeth. He is sure that God +will conquer through him, and, though he has no sword, that he will +somehow hack the big head off; and that it is the host of the +Philistines on whom the vultures and jackals are to feed to-day. + +His faith sees the victory before the battle is begun, and trusts, not +in his own weak power, but only 'in the name of the Lord.' Note, too, +the result which he expects--no glory for himself, though that came +unsought, when the shrill songs from the women of Israel met the +victors, but to all the world the proof that Israel had a God, and to +Israel ('this assembly') the renewed lesson of their true weapons and +of their Almighty Helper. Such utter suppression of self is inseparable +from trust in God, and without it no soldier of His has a right to +expect victory. To fight 'in the name of the Lord' requires hiding our +own name. If we are really going to war for Him, and in His strength, +we ought to expect to conquer. Believe that you will be beaten, and you +will be. Trust to Him to make you 'more than conquerors,' and the trust +will bring about its own fulfilment. + +IV. Observe the contrast in verse 48 between the slow movements of the +heavy-armed Philistine and the quick run of the shepherd, whose 'feet +were as hind's feet' (Psalm xviii. 33). Agility and confident alacrity +were both expressed. His feet were shod with 'the preparedness of +faith.' Observe, too, the impetuous brevity of the account in verse 49, +of the actual fall of Goliath. The short clauses, coupled by a series +of 'ands,' reproduce the swift succession of events, which ended the +fight before it had begun; and one can almost hear the whiz of the +stone as it crashes into the thick head, so strangely left unprotected +by all the profusion of brass that clattered about him. The vulnerable +heel of Achilles and the unarmed forehead of Goliath illustrate the +truth, ever forgotten and needing to be repeated, that, after all +precautions, some spot is bare, and that 'there is no armour against +fate.' + +The picture of the huge 'man-mountain' fallen upon his face to the +earth, a huddled heap of useless mail, recalls the words of a psalm, +'When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up +my flesh, they stumbled and fell' (Psalm xxvii. 2). Is it fanciful to +hear in that triumphant chant an echo of Goliath's boast about giving +his flesh to the fowls and the beasts, and a vision of the braggart as +he tottered and lay prostrate? Observe, too, the contemptuous +reiteration of 'the Philistine,' which occurs six times in the four +verses (48-51). National feeling speaks in that. There is triumph in +the sarcastic repetition of the dreaded name in such a connection. This +was what one of the brood had got, and his fate was an omen of what +would befall the rest. The champion of Israel, the soldier of God, +standing over the dead Philistine, all whose brazen armour had been +useless and his brazen insolence abased, and sawing off his head with +his own sword, was a prophecy for the Israel of that day, and will be a +symbol till the end of time of the true equipment, the true temper, and +the certain victory, of all who, in the name of the Lord of hosts, go +forth in their weakness against the giants of ignorance, vice, and sin. +'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' + + + + +A SOUL'S TRAGEDY + +'And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself +wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war; and he was accepted in +the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. +6. And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the +slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of +Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, +and with instruments of musick. 7. And the women answered one another +as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his +ten thousands. 8. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased +him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to +me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the +kingdom? 9. And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 10. And it +came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon +Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played +with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's +hand. 11. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David +even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. +12. And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and +was departed from Saul. 13. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and +made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in +before the people. 14. And David behaved himself wisely in all his +ways; and the Lord was with him. 15. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he +behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16. But all Israel +and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.'--1 +SAMUEL xviii. 5-16. + + +Verse 5 anticipates verses 13-16. It is the last verse of a section +which interrupts the even flow of the story, and which is absent from +the Septuagint. Verse 6 follows immediately on xvii. 54 in that +version. Taking that verse as our starting-point, we have three stages +in Saul's growing hatred and awe of the young champion, and of David's +growing influence and reputation. It is deeply tragic to watch the +gradual darkening of the once bright light, side by side with the +irresistible increase in brilliance of the new star. 'He must increase, +but I must decrease,' became Saul's bitter conviction; but instead of +meekly accepting the necessity, his gloomy spirit struggled against it, +like stormy waves against a breakwater, and, like them, was shivered +into foam in the vain effort. + +I. The first stage was Saul's jealousy of David's fame as a warrior. +The returning victorious army was met, in Oriental fashion, by a +triumphal chorus of women, with their shrill songs, accompanied by the +dissonant noises which do duty for music to Eastern ears. The words of +their chant were startlingly and ominously plain-spoken, and became +more emphatic and insulting in Saul's ears, because they were sung by +two answering bands, one of which rang out, 'Saul hath slain his +thousands,' while the other overtopped them by pealing out still more +loudly and exultantly, 'And David his ten thousands.' To be brought +into comparison with this unknown stripling was bitter enough, but to +be used as a foil to set off his superiority was too much to be borne. +There are few men, holding high places in any walk of life, who could +have stood such a comparison without wincing. Suppose a great soldier +in our day, coming home from a successful campaign, and having his +prowess dimmed in every newspaper by the praises lavished on a young +lieutenant who had done some brave feat that caught the public fancy-- +would he be likely to be in a very amiable mood towards either the +singers or the object of their triumphal songs? Do great authors +rejoice in the rising of young reputations that dim theirs? or do great +orators smile when some 'boy' takes the public ear more than they do? +Poor Saul had to drink the bitter cup, which all who love the sweet +draught of popular applause have sooner or later to taste; and we need +not think him a monster of badness because he found it bitter. + +It will be more to the purpose that we take care lest we do the very +same thing in our little lives and humble spheres; for envy and +jealousy of those who threaten to out-shine, or in any way to out-do, +us is not confined to people in high places or with great reputations. +The roots of them are in us all, and the only way to keep them from +growing up rank is to think less of our reputation and more of our +duty, to count it a very small matter what men think of us, and the +all-important matter what God thinks. + +Saul was moved, too, by the consciousness that he had been really +deposed by Jehovah, and was only a phantom king, and, as his angry +soliloquy shows, what troubled him most in the women's song was that it +pointed to David as likely to come in and rob him, not only of glory, +but of the kingdom. Ever since Samuel had pronounced his rejection, his +uneasy eyes had been furtively scanning men for his possible +supplanter, and no wonder that his gloomy suspicions focussed +themselves on the gallant youth, who conquered men's hearts and made +women's tongues eloquent in his praise. Stormy and dark as Saul's +nature had become, and grave as had been his failure to be worthy of +the monarchy, one cannot but feel the infinite pathos and pity of his +life. + +II. The second stage was the attempt on David's life. Verses 10 and 11, +which record it, are not in the Septuagint, and the narrative does run +more smoothly without them. But if they are retained, they show how the +moody suspicion with which Saul 'eyed David' came to a swift, murderous +climax. He stands as a terrible example of how suspicion and jealousy, +working in a nature utterly without self-control, transport it into the +wildest excesses. In the strange phraseology of verse 9, 'an evil +spirit from God' laid hold of him, dominating his personality. The +writer of this book felt that God was the ultimate cause of all things, +and that all beings were under His control; and his devout recognition +of that fact led him to the apparent paradox of tracing an 'evil +spirit' to God. But we must not be so startled as to overlook the truth +that Saul had prepared the fit abode for that evil spirit by his own +indulgence in a whirl of sinful passions and acts, and that these were +punished by their 'natural' consequence. Any man who lets his own baser +nature have full fling invites the devil. Saul had what would now be +called a paroxysm of insanity. But perhaps the modern medical phrase is +not to be preferred to the old scriptural one. The former is innocent +of any explanation of the fact which it designates, and it may possibly +be that insanity is sometimes, even now, 'possession.' At all events, +since science gives no explanation of it, and a great dim region of +consciousness is now being recognised,--'subliminal,' to speak in the +new phraseology,--he is a bold man who ventures to deny that +possibility. + +But be that as it may, what a striking picture is given of Saul, worn +with passion and swept away by ungovernable impulses, 'prophesying' or +'raving' with wild gestures and uttering wilder sounds; and of David, +young, calm, giving forth melodies on his harp and songs from his lips, +that sought to soothe the paroxysms of fury. Browning has drawn the +picture in immortal words, which all who can should read. It has been +suggested that Saul did not 'cast' his spear, but only brandished it in +his fierce threat to pin David to the wall. But the youthful harper +would scarcely have 'avoided out of his presence' for a mere threat and +the flourish of a lance; and a man, raging mad and madly hostile, would +not be likely to waste breath in mere threats. The attempt was more +probably a serious one, and the spear, flung by an arm made stronger +than ever by insane hatred, quivered in the wall very near the lithe +athlete who had agilely escaped it. Envy, allowed to have its way, +becomes murderous. Let us suppress its beginning. A tiger pup can be +held in and its claws cut, but a full-grown tiger cannot. + +III. The third stage is Saul's getting rid of David. The growing awe of +him is marked in verses 12 and 15, and the word in the latter verse is +stronger than that in the former. It is a pathetic picture of the +gradual creeping over a strong man of a nameless terror. Ever- +thickening folds of cold dread, like a wet mist, wrap a soul once +bright and energetic. And the reason is twofold: first, that God had +left that tempestuous, rebellious soul because it had left Him; and +second, that, in its desolate solitude, in which there was no trace of +softening or penitence, that lightning-riven soul knew that the +sunshine, which it had repelled, was now pouring on David. Saul's +suspicions were hardened into certainties. He was sure now that what +his jealousy had whispered, when the women chanted their chorus, was +grim fact. And he could but helplessly watch his supplanter's steady +advance in favour with men and God. The two processes of growing +darkness and growing light go on side by side in the two men, and each +makes the other more striking by contrast. Twice is it repeated that +Saul was in awe of David. Twice is it repeated that Jehovah was with +David, and that he 'behaved himself wisely,' which last statement +includes in the Hebrew word both the idea of prudence and that of +success. So, on the one hand, there is a steady growth in all good, +godly, and happy qualities and experiences; and on the other, a +tragical increase of darkness and gloom, godlessness and despair. And +yet Saul had begun so well! And Saul might have been what David was,-- +companioned by God, prosperous, and the idol of his people. Two souls +stand side by side for a moment on the same platform, with the same +divine goodness and love encircling them, and the one steadily rises, +while the other steadily sinks. How awful are the endless possibilities +of progress in either direction that lie open for every soul of man! + + + + +JONATHAN, THE PATTERN OF FRIENDSHIP + +'And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before +Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin +before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 2. And he said unto him, +God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing +either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my +father hide this thing from me? it is not so. 3. And David sware +moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found +grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he +be grieved: but truly, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, +there is but a step between me and death. 4. Then said Jonathan unto +David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. 5. And +David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I +should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may +hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 6. If thy father +at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he +might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there +for all the family. 7. If he say thus, it is well; thy servant shall +have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is +determined by him. 8. Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy +servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord +with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me +thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? 9. And Jonathan +said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were +determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it +thee? 10. Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if +thy father answer thee roughly? 11. And Jonathan said unto David, Come, +and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into +the field. 12. And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel when +I have sounded my father about to-morrow any time, or the third day, +and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto +thee, and shew it thee; 13. The Lord do so and much more to Jonathan: +but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, +and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the Lord be with +thee, as He hath been with my father.'--1 SAMUEL xx. 1-13. + + +The friendship of Jonathan for David comes like a breath of pure air in +the midst of the heavy-laden atmosphere of hate and mad fury, or like +some clear fountain sparkling up among the sulphurous slag and barren +scoriae of a volcano. There is no more beautiful page in history or +poetry than the story of the passionate love of the heir to the throne +for the young champion, whom he had so much cause to regard as a rival. +What a proof of the victory of love over self is his saying, 'Thou +shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee'! (1 Samuel +xxiii. 17). Truly did David sing in his elegy, 'Thy love to me was +wonderful, passing the love of women'; for in that old world, in which +the relations between the sexes had not yet received the hallowing and +refinement of Christian times, much of what is now chiefly found in +these was manifested in friendship, such as that of these two young +men. Jonathan is the foremost figure in it, and the nobility and self- +oblivion of his love are beautifully brought out, while David's part is +rather that of the loved than of the lover. The scene is laid in +Gibeah, where Saul kept his court, and to which all the persons of the +story seem to have come back from Samuel's house at Kamah. Saul's +strange subjugation to the hallowing influences of the prophet's +presence had been but momentary and superficial; and it had been +followed by a renewed outburst of the old hate, obvious to David's +sharpened sight, though not to Jonathan. In the interview between them, +David is pardonably but obviously absorbed in self, while Jonathan +bends all his soul to cheer and reassure his friend. + +There are four turns in the conversation, in each of which David speaks +and Jonathan answers. David's first question presupposes that his +friend knows that his death is determined, and is privy to Saul's +thoughts. If he had been less harassed, he would have done Jonathan +more justice than to suppose him capable of knowing everything without +telling him anything; but fear is suspicious. He should have remembered +that, when Saul first harboured murderous purposes, Jonathan had not +waited to be asked, but had disclosed the plot to him, and perilled his +own life by his remonstrances with his father. He should have trusted +his friend. His question breathes consciousness of innocence of any +hostility to Saul, but unconsciously betrays some defect in his +confidence in Jonathan. The answer is magnanimous in its silence as to +that aspect of the question, though the subsequent story seems to imply +that Jonathan felt it. He tries to hearten David by strong assurances +that his life is safe. He does not directly contradict David's +implication that he knew more than he had told, but, without asserting +his ignorance, takes it for granted, and quietly argues from it the +incorrectness of David's suspicions. Incidentally he gives us, in the +picture of the perfect confidence between Saul and himself, an inkling +of how much he had to sacrifice to his friendship. Wild as was Saul's +fury when aroused, and narrow as had been his escape from it at an +earlier time (1 Samuel xiv. 44), there was yet love between them, and +the king made a confidant of his gallant eldest son. They 'were lovely +and pleasant in their lives.' However gloomy and savage in his +paroxysms Saul was, the relations between them were sweet. The most +self-introverted and solitary soul needs some heart to pour itself out +to, and this poor king found one in Jonathan. All the harder, then, was +the trial of friendship when the trusted son had to take the part of +the friend whom his father deemed an enemy, and had the pain of +breaking such close ties. How his heart must have been torn asunder! On +the one side was the lonely father who clung to him: on the other, the +hunted friend to whom he clung. It is a sore wrench when kindred are on +one side, and congeniality and the voice of the heart on the other. But +there are ties more sacred than those of flesh and blood; and the +putting of them second, which is sometimes needful in obedience to +earthly love or duty, is always needful if we would rightly entertain +our heavenly Friend. + +Jonathan's soothing assurances did not satisfy David, and he 'sware' in +the earnestness of his conviction. David gives a very good reason for +his friend's ignorance, which he has at once believed, in the +suggestion that Saul had not taken him into his confidence, out of +tenderness to his feelings. Their friendship, then, was notorious, and, +indeed, was an element in Saul's dread of David, who seemed to have +some charm to steal hearts, and had bewitched both Saul's son and his +daughter, thus making a painful rift in the family unity. It does not +appear how David came to be so sure of Saul's designs. The incident at +Ramah might have seemed to augur some improvement in his mood; and +certainly there could have been no overt acts, or Jonathan could not +have disputed the suspicions. Possibly some whispers may have reached +David through his wife Michal, Saul's daughter, or in the course of his +attendance on the king, which he had now resumed, his quick eye may +have noticed ominous signs. At all events, he is so sure, that he makes +solemn attestation to his friend, and convinces him that, in the +picturesque phrase which has become so familiar, 'There is but a step +between me and death.' Such temper was scarcely in accordance with 'the +prophecies which went before on' him. If he had been walking by faith, +he would have called Samuel's anointing to mind, and have drawn +arguments from the victory over Goliath, for trust in victory over +Saul, as he had done for the former from that over the lion and the +bear. But faith does not always keep high-water mark, and we can only +too easily sympathise with this momentary ebb of its waters. + +None the less is it true that David's terror was unworthy, and showed +that the strain of his anxious position was telling on his spirit, and +making him not only suspect his earthly friend, but half forget his +heavenly One. There was but a step between him and death; but, if he +had been living in the serenity of trust, he would have known that the +narrow space was as good as a thousand miles, and that Saul could not +force him across it, for all his hatred and power. + +Jonathan does not attempt to alter his conviction and probably is +obliged to admit the justice of the explanation of his own ignorance +and the truth of the impression of Saul's purposes. But he does what is +more to the purpose; he pledges himself to do whatever David desires. +It is an unconditional desertion of his father and alliance with David; +it is the true voice of friendship or love, which ever has its delight +in knowing and doing the will of the beloved. It answers David's +thoughts rather than his words. He will not discuss any more whether he +or David is right; but, in any event, he is his friend's. + +The touchstone of friendship is practical help and readiness to do what +the friend wishes. It is so in our friendships here, which are best +cemented so. It is so in the highest degree in our friendship with the +true Friend and Lover of us all, the sweetness and power of our +friendship with whom we do not know until we say, 'Whatsoever thou +desirest, I will do it,' and so lose the burden of self-will, and find +that He does for us what we desire when we make His desires our law of +conduct. + +Secure of Jonathan's help, David proposed the stratagem for finding out +Saul's disposition, which had probably been in his mind all along. It +says more for his subtlety than for his truthfulness. With all his +nobility, he had a streak of true Oriental craft and stood on the moral +level of his times and country, in his readiness to eke out the lion's +skin with the fox's tail. It was a shrewd idea to make Saul betray +himself by the way in which he took David's absence; but a lie is a +lie, and cannot be justified, though it may be palliated, by the +straits of the liar. At the same time it is fair to remember the +extremity of David's danger and the morality of his age, in estimating, +not the nature of his action, but the extent of his guilt in doing it. +The same relaxation of the vigour of his faith which left him a prey to +fear, led him to walk in crooked paths, and the impartial narrative +tells of them without a word of comment. We have to form our own +estimate of the fitness of a lie to form the armour of a saint. The +proposal informs us of two facts,--the custom of having a feast for +three days at the new moon, and that of having an annual family feast +and sacrifice, neither of which is prescribed in the law. I do not here +deal with the grave question as to the date of the ceremonial law, as +affected by these and similar phenomena; but I may be allowed the +passing remark that the irregularities do not prove the non-existence +of the law, but may be accounted for by supposing that, in such +unsettled times, it had been loosely observed, and that many accretions +and omissions, some of them inevitable in the absence of a recognised +centre of worship, had crept in. That is a much less brilliant and much +more old-fashioned explanation than the new one, but perhaps it is none +the worse for that. This generation is fond of making 'originality' and +'brilliancy' the tests of truth. + +David's words in verse 8 have a touch of suspicion in them, in their +very appeal for kind treatment, in their reminder of the 'covenant' of +friendship, as if Jonathan needed either, and still more in the bitter +request to slay him himself instead of delivering him to Saul. He +almost thinks that Jonathan is in the plot, and means to carry him off +a prisoner. Note, too, that he does not say, 'We made a covenant,' but +'Thou hast brought me into' it, as if it had been the other's wish +rather than his. All this was beneath true friendship, and it hurt +Jonathan, who next speaks with unusual emotion, beseeching David to +clear all this fog out of his heart, and to believe in the genuineness +and depth of his love, and in the frankness of his speech. True love +'is not easily provoked,' is not soon angry, and his was true in spite +of many obstacles which might have made him as jealous as his father, +and in the face of misconstruction and suspicion. May we not think of a +yet higher love, which bears with our suspicions and faithless doubts, +and ever answers our incredulity by its gentle 'If it were not so, I +would have told you'? + +David is not yet at the end of his difficulties, and next suggests, how +is he to know Saul's mind? Jonathan takes him out into the privacy of +the open country (they had apparently been in Gibeah), and there +solemnly calls God to witness that he will disclose his father's +purposes, whatever they are. The language is obscure and broken, +whether owing to corruption in the text, or to the emotion of the +speaker. In half-shaped sentences, which betray how much he felt his +friend's doubts, and how sincere he was, he invokes evil on himself if +he fails to tell all. He then unfolds his ingenious scheme for +conveying the information, on which we do not touch. But note the final +words of Jonathan,--that prayer, so pathetic, so unselfish in its +recognition of David as the inheritor of the kingdom that had dropped +from his own grasp, so sad in its clear-eyed assurance of his father's +abandonment, so deeply imbued with faith in the divine word, and so +resigned to its behests. Both in the purity of his friendship and in +the strength of his faith and submission, Jonathan stands here above +David, and is far surer than the latter himself is of his high destiny +and final triumph. It was hard for him to believe in the victory which +was to displace his own house, harder still to rejoice in it, without +one trace of bitterness mingling in the sweetness of his love, hardest +of all actively to help it and to take sides against his father; but +all these difficulties his unselfish heart overcame, and he stands for +all time as the noblest example of human friendship, and as not +unworthy to remind us, as from afar off and dimly, of the perfect love +of the Firstborn Son of the true King, who has loved us all with a yet +deeper, more patient, more self-sacrificing love. If men can love one +another as Jonathan loved David, how should they love the Christ who +has loved them so much! And what sacrilege it is to pour such treasures +of affection at the feet of dear ones here, and to give so grudgingly +such miserable doles of heart's love to Him! + + + + +LOVE FOR HATE, THE TRUE QUID PRO QUO + +'And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord +said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, +that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David +arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. 5. And it came to +pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had out off +Saul's skirt. 6. And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I +should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch +forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. 7. +So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to +rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his +way. 8. David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried +after Saul, saying, My Lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, +David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself, 9. And +David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, +David seeketh thy hurt? 10. Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how +that the Lord had delivered thee to-day into mine hand in the cave: and +some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will +not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed. +11. Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my +hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, +know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine +hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to +take it. 12. The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me +Of thee; but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13. As saith the proverb +of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand +shall not be upon thee. 14. After whom is the king of Israel come out? +after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 15. The +Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and +plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. 16. And it came to +pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, +that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his +voice, and wept. 17. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than +I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.' +--1 SAMUEL xxiv. 4-17. + + +A sudden Philistine invasion had saved David, when hard pressed by +Saul, and had given him the opportunity of flight to the wild country +on the west of the Dead Sea, near the place where En-Gedi ('the +Fountain of the Wild Goat') sparkles into light on the hill above the +weird lake. In these savage gorges Saul's three thousand men would be +of little use against the light-footed outlaw and his troop. The whole +district is seamed with ravines, and these are honeycombed with great +caverns, where dangerous outcasts still lurk and defy capture. +Travellers go into raptures over the beauty of some of these 'fairy +grottoes' draped with maiden-hair fern, cool and moist, and blessedly +dark after the fierce light outside. In some one of these the beautiful +story which makes our lesson occurred. + +I. We have the scene in the cave. The interior would be black as night +to one looking inward with eyes fresh from the blinding glare of such +sunlight upon limestone, but it would hold a glimmering twilight for +one looking outward, with eyes accustomed to the gloom. David and his +men, keeping close to the walls and hiding behind angles, might well be +unobserved by Saul at the mouth, and probably never looking in at all. +How vividly the whispered eagerness of the outcasts round David is +reproduced! They think it would be 'tempting Providence' to let such a +chance slip. They put a religious varnish on their advice. It would be +almost impious not to kill Saul, for here was the hand of God evidently +fulfilling a prophecy! There may have been some unrecorded prediction +of the sort which they seem to quote; but more probably they are only +referring to David's designation to the crown, which they had come to +know. It never struck them as possible that it could 'seem good' to a +wise man not to cut his enemy's throat when he could do it without +danger to himself. So they would watch David stealing down quietly to +the place where the unconscious king was crouching, and getting close +behind him, knife in hand. How disgusted they must have been when the +blade, that flashed for a moment in the light at the cave's mouth, was +not buried in Saul's great back, but only hacked off the end of his +robe spread out behind him! No personal animosity was in David. However +he had been driven to consort with outlaws, and to live a kind of +freebooter's life, his natural sweetness was unspoiled, and was +reinforced by solemn veneration for the sanctity of the Lord's +anointing, which he reverenced all the more because himself had +received it. He clambered back to his disappointed men, and, as soon as +he was up in the dark again, his chivalry and his religion made him +ashamed of his coarse practical jest. The humour of the thing had +tempted him to do it; but it was a rude insult, which lowered him more +than it did Saul, and, like a true man, he blushes there in the gloom +at what he has done. Then he has to defend himself to his men for not +coming up to their expectations, and he does it by insisting on the +sacredness which still surrounded Saul as 'the Lord's anointed.' David +knew that the unhappy king had been rejected and forsaken by 'the +Spirit of the Lord,' and that he himself was the true bearer of the +regal unction; but he will not take the law into his own hands, and +still regards Saul as his 'lord.' He sets the example, much needed by +us all, of leaving God to carry out His purposes at His own time, and +patiently waiting till that time comes. He had hard work to keep his +men from rushing down on the king; but, having commanded himself, is +able to restrain them. How many virtues may be in exercise in one +action! Here we have generosity, clemency, sensitiveness of conscience, +reverence, self-abnegation, patience, loyalty, firmness, sway over +lower natures for high ends,--a whole constellation shining star-like +in the dark cavern. + +II. We have, next, David's pathetic remonstrance. Saul was alone, and +David could easily escape among the cliffs, if the king summoned his +men; but he risks capture, in the gush of ancient friendship. His words +are full of nobleness, and his silence is no less so. He has no +reproaches, no anger nor hate. He will not even suppose that Saul has +followed his own impulses in his persecution, but assumes that he has +been led astray by calumnies. He points to the fragment of Saul's robe +in his hand as the disproof of the lie that he had designs against him, +and passionately asserts his innocence now and in all the past. He +compares himself to some timid wild thing, like one of the goats among +the cliffs, and Saul to a hunter. He solemnly calls God to judge +between them, and appeals from the slanders and misjudgings of men to +the perfect tribunal of God, to whom he commits his cause. He abjures +all intention of striking at Saul in his own defence. He quotes, in +true Eastern manner, a scrap of proverbial wisdom, which contains the +homely truth that character determines action; for it needs a wicked +man to do a wicked thing, and he implies that he is not wicked, and +that Saul knows that well enough,--by what has just happened, if by +nothing else. Then he puts his own insignificance and the disproportion +between him and his ragged band and the imposing force of Saul in vivid +light by his half-humorous and wholly humble description of himself as +a 'dead dog,' and a 'flea'; as harmless as the one, as hard to catch as +the other, as little important as either. Finally, he reiterates his +devout reference of the whole cause to God, and his fixed resolution to +take no steps to right himself, but to leave all to Him. + +So ought we to deal with slanders and enmity. The eternal law for us in +all opposition and hostility is enshrined in David's noble words and +deeds. To repay evil with benefits, to abstain from retaliation when it +is in our power, to keep our tongues from bitter and wounding words, to +appeal to the adversary's better self, even at the cost of our own +'dignity,'--all that is not easy nor usual among professing Christians. +But it ought to be. David's Lord, 'when He suffered, threatened not; +but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.' We are poor +followers of Him, if David surpasses us in patience and magnanimity. It +has taken nineteen hundred years to teach us that passive endurance is +more heroic than fighting for our own hand, and that repaying scorn and +hate with their like is less noble than meeting them with endless +forgiveness. + +Psalm vii. is all but universally regarded as David's, and as belonging +to this period. In it we find a clause, 'I have delivered him that +without cause was mine enemy,' which may fairly he supposed to refer to +the scene in the cave, and we read the same vehement protestations of +innocence, the same figure of himself as a hunted wild animal, the same +appeal to God's judgment, as in his remonstrance with Saul. The psalm +is the poetic echo of our lesson. + +III. We have the momentary melting of Saul's heart. He breaks into +passionate weeping. With that sudden flashing out into vehement +emotion, so characteristic of him throughout, and, in these latter days +of his life, so significant of enfeebled self-control, he recognises +David's generous forbearance in its contrast to his own hate, which, +for the moment, he feels to be causeless. There is a piteous +remembrance of the days when David soothed him by song, in his mention +of the sweet 'voice,' and some rekindling of ancient love in his +calling him 'My son.' Then follow the sad words which confess the +hopelessness of his struggle against the divine purpose, and his appeal +for mercy to his house. The picture may well move solemn thoughts and +pity for that scathed and solitary soul, seeing for a moment, as by a +lightning flash, the madness of his course, and yet held so fast in the +grip of his dark passions that he cannot shake off their tyranny. + +Two great lessons are taught by that tragic figure of the weeping and +yet unchanged king. One is of the power of forbearing gentleness to +exorcise hate. The true way to 'overcome evil' is to melt it by fiery +coals of gentleness. That is God's way. An iceberg may be crushed to +powder, but every fragment is still ice. Only sunshine that melts it +will turn it into sweet water. Love is conqueror, and the only +conqueror, and its conquest is to transform hate into love. The other +lesson is the worthlessness of mere feeling, which by its very nature +passes away, and, like unstored rain, leaves the rock in its obstinate +hardness more exposed. Saul only increased his guilt by reason of the +fleeting glimpse of his folly which he did not follow up; and our +gleams of insight into some sin and madness of ours but add to our +responsibility. Emotion which does not lead to action hardens the +heart, and adds to our guilt and condemnation. + + + + +LOVE AND REMORSE + +'And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and +David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Xer, the +captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched +round about him. 6. Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the +Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, +Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will +go down with thee. 7. So David and Abishai came to the people by night: +and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck +in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about +him. 8. Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into +thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with +the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the +second time. 9. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can +stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? +10. David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite +him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and +perish. 11. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand +against the Lord's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear +that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. 12. So +David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and +they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for +they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen +upon them .... 21. Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: +for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine +eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred +exceedingly. 22. And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! +and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. 23. The Lord +render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the +Lord delivered thee into my hand today, but I would not stretch forth +mine hand against the Lord's anointed. 24. And, behold, as thy life was +much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the +eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation. 25. +Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both +do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his +way, and Saul returned to his place.'--1 SAMUEL xxvi 5-12; 21-25. + + +It is fashionable at present to regard this incident and the other +instance of David's sparing Saul, when in his power, as two versions of +one event. But it if not improbable that the hunted outlaw should twice +have taken refuge in the same place, or that his hiding-place should +have been twice betrayed. He had but a small choice of safe retreats, +and the Ziphites had motive for a second betrayal in the fact of the +first, and of its failure to secure David's capture. The whole cast of +the two incidents is so different that it is impossible to see how the +one could have been evolved from the other, and either they are both +true, or they are both unhistorical, or, at best, are both the product +of fancy working on, and arbitrarily filling up, a very meagre skeleton +of fact. Many of the advocates of the identity of the incident at the +bottom of the two accounts would accept the latter explanation; we take +the former. + +Saul had three thousand men with him; David had left his little troop +'in the wilderness,' and seems to have come with only his two +companions, Ahimelech and his own nephew, Abishai, to reconnoitre. He +sees, from some height, the camp, with the transport wagons making a +kind of barricade in the centre--just as camps are still arranged in +South Africa and elsewhere,--and Saul established therein as in a rude +fortification. A bold thought flashes into his mind as he looks. +Perhaps he remembered Gideon's daring visit to the camp of Midian. He +will go down, and not only into the camp, but 'to Saul,' through the +ranks and over the barrier. What to do he does not say, but the two +fierce fighters beside him think of only one thing as sufficient motive +for such an adventure. Abishai volunteers to go with him; no doubt +Ahimelech would have been ready also, but two were enough, and three +would only have increased risk. So they lay close hid till night fell, +and then stole down through the sleeping ranks with silent movements, +like a couple of Indians on the war-trail, climbed the barricade, and +stood at last where Saul lay, with his spear, as the emblem of +kingship, stuck upright at his head, and a cruse of water for slaking +thirst, if he awoke, beside him. Those who should have been his guards +lay sleeping round him, for a 'deep sleep from Jehovah was fallen upon +them.' What a vivid, strange picture it is, and how characteristic of +the careless discipline of unscientific Eastern warfare! + +The tigerish lust for blood awoke in Abishai. Whatever sad, pitying, +half-tender thoughts stirred in David as he looked at the mighty form +of Saul, with limbs relaxed in slumber, and perhaps some of the gloom +and evil passions charmed out of his face, his nephew's only thought +was,' What a fair mark! what an easy blow!' He was brutally eager to +strike once, and truculently sure that his arm would make sure that +once would be enough. He was religious too, after a strange fierce +fashion. God-significantly he does not say 'Jehovah'; his religion was +only the vague belief in a deity-had delivered Saul into David's hands, +and it would be a kind of sin not to kill him. How many bloody +tragedies that same unnatural alliance of religion and murderous hate +has varnished over! Very beautifully does David's spirit contrast with +this. Abishai represents the natural impulse of us all--to strike at +our enemies when we can, to meet hate with hate, and do to another the +evil that he would do to us. + +David here, though he could be fierce and cruel enough sometimes, and +had plenty of the devil in him, listens to his nobler self, which +listens to God, and, at a time when everything tempted him to avenge +himself, resists and overcomes. He is here a saint after the New +Testament pattern. Abishai had, in effect, said, 'Thou shalt love thy +neighbour, and hate thine enemy.' David's finely-tuned ear heard, long +before they were spoken on earth, the great Christian words, 11 say +unto you, Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you.' He knew +that Saul had been 'rejected,' but he was 'Jehovah's anointed,' and the +unction which had rested on that sleeping head lingered still. It was +not for David to be the executor of God's retribution. He left himself +and his cause in Jehovah's hands, and no doubt it was with sorrow and +pitying love, not altogether quenched by Saul's mad hate, that he +foresaw that the life which he spared now was certain one day to be +smitten. We may well learn the lesson of this story, and apply it to +the small antagonisms and comparatively harmless enmities which may +beset our more quiet lives. David in Saul's 'laager,' Stephen outside +the wall, alike lead up our thoughts to Jesus' prayer,' Father, forgive +them; for they know not what they do.' + +The carrying off of the spear and the cruse was a couch of almost +humour, and it, with the ironical taunt flung across the valley to +Abner, gives relief to the strain of emotion in the story. Saul's burst +of passionate remorse is morbid, paroxysmal, like his fits of fury, and +is sure to foam itself away. The man had no self-control. He had let +wild, ungoverned moods master him, and was truly 'possessed.' One +passion indulged had pushed him over the precipice into insanity, or +something like it. Let us take care not to let any passion, emotion, or +mood get the upper hand. 'That way madness lies.' 'He that hath no rule +over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, without walls.' + +And let us not confound remorse with repentance 'The sorrow of the +world worketh death.' Saul grovelled in agony that day, but tomorrow he +was raging again with more than the old frenzy of hate. Many a man +says, 'I have played the fool,' and yet goes on playing it again when +the paroxysm of remorse has stormed itself out. David's answer was by +no means effusive, for he had learned how little Saul's regrets were to +be trusted. He takes no notice of the honeyed words of invitation to +return, and will not this time venture to take back the spear and +cruse, as he had done, on the previous occasion, the skirt of Saul's +robe. He solemnly appeals to Jehovah's righteous judgment to determine +his and Saul's respective 'righteousness and faithfulness.' He is +silent as to what that judgment may have in reserve for Saul, but for +himself he is calmly conscious that, in the matter of sparing Saul's +life, he has done right, and expects that God will deliver him 'out of +all tribulation.' That is not self-righteous boasting, although it does +not exactly smack of the Christian spirit; but it is faith clinging to +the confidence that God is 'not unrighteous to forget' his servant's +obedience, and that the innocent will not always be the oppressor's +victim. + +What a strange, bewildered, self-contradictory chaos of belief and +intention is revealed in poor, miserable Saul's parting words! He +blesses the man whom he is hunting to slay. He knows that all his wild +efforts to destroy him are foredoomed to failure, and that David 'shall +surely prevail'; and yet he cannot give up fighting against the +inevitable,--that is, against God. How many of us are doing the very +same thing--rushing on in a course of life which we know, when we are +sane, to be dead against God's will, and therefore doomed to utter +collapse some day! + +'And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war +against me, and God is departed from me.'-1 Samuel xxviii. 15. + +Among all the persons of Scripture who are represented as having fallen +away from God and wrecked their lives, perhaps there is none so +impressive as the giant form of the first king of Israel. Huge and +black, seamed and scarred with lightning marks of passions, moody and +suspicious, devil-ridden and lonely, doubting his truest friends, and +even his son, striking blindly in his fury at the gracious, sunny poet- +warrior who shows so bright, so full of resource, so nimble, so +generous, by contrast with the heavy strength of the moody giant, and +ever escapes the javelin that quivers harmlessly in the wall, with an +inevitable destiny hanging over his head, and at last creeping to +'wizards that peep and mutter,' and dying a suicide, with his army in +full flight and his son dead at his feet--what a course and what an end +for the chosen of the Lord, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came with +the anointing oil, and gave him a new heart for his kingly office. + +I know not anywhere a sadder story: and I know not where human lips +ever poured out a more awful wail--like a Titan in his rage of pain-- +than these words of our text. Bright hopes and fair promise, and much +that was good and true in performance--all came to this. A few hours +more and the 'battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, +and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.' Madness, +despair, defeat, death, all were the sequel of, 'Because thou hast +rejected the commandment of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee +from being king.' A true soul's tragedy! Let us look together at its +course, and gather the lessons that lie on the surface. We have neither +space nor wish here to enter upon the many points of minute interest +and curiosity which are in the story. We have to be contented with +large outlines. + +Look then + +I. At the bright dawn. + +The early story gives us many traits of beauty in Saul's character. Not +only physical strength but a winning personality are apparent. His +modesty and humility when Samuel salutes him are made plain. And we are +distinctly told that as he turned away from Samuel, 'God gave him +another heart,' by which we are to understand not 'regeneration' but an +inspiration, that equipped him for his office. + +How many a man finds that sudden elevation ruins him! But often it +evokes what is good, brings an entire change of disposition, as with +'Harry of Mon-mouth.' But it was not only his new responsibility which +brought into action powers that had previously been dormant. New +circumstances, no doubt, did something, but Saul's 'new' heart was +God's gift. + +The story of the beginning of his reign reveals a very noble and +lovable character. We can but mention his modesty in hiding among the +stuff, his disregard of the murmurs of those who would not do homage +('made as though he had been deaf'), his return, as it would seem, to +his home-life and farm-work, his chivalrous boldness and warlike +energy, which sprung at once to activity on the call of a great +exigency in Jabesh-Gilead, his humane and sweet repression of the +people's desire, in their first flush of pride in their soldier king, +to slay his enemies, and his devout acknowledgment that not he but God +has wrought this salvation. + +So for the first year of his reign all went well. + +How much of divine influence a man may have and yet fling it all away! +How unreliable a thing mere natural goodness is! How much apparent +goodness may coexist with deep-seated evil! How bright a beginning may +darken into a tempestuous day! How seeds of evil may lurk in the +fairest character! How little one can be judged by part of his life! +How it is not the possession, but the retention, of goodness and devout +impressions that makes a man good. + +II. The gathering clouds. + + +The acts recorded as darkening the fair dawn of Saul's reign may seem +too trivial to deserve the stern retribution that followed them, but +small acts may be great sins. The first of them was his offering +sacrifices without authority, an act which Samuel stigmatised as +wanton, deliberate disobedience to 'the commandment of the Lord thy +God.' Next came his rash and absurd laying of a curse on any soldier +who should eat food before evening, and his consequent mad +determination to kill Jonathan, for 'taking a little honey' on the end +of his rod. Next came his flagrant disobedience to the divine command +transmitted to him through Samuel, to 'smite Amalek, and utterly +destroy all that they have, and spare them not,' We shudder at such +ferocious extermination, but we are to remember that Saul was moved by +no pity, but by mere lust for loot, and tried to deceive God, in the +person of His representative Samuel, by the lie that the people had +coerced him, and that the motive for preserving the best of the cattle +was to sacrifice them to the Lord. Samuel's blaze of indignation gave +the world the great word: 'Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.' + +Putting all these acts together, we have the sad picture of a character +steadily deteriorating. He is growing daily more self-willed and +impatient of the restraint of God's commanding will. He is chafing at +his position as a viceroy, not an absolute sovereign. He is becoming +tyrannical, careless of his subjects' lives, intolerant of opposition, +remonstrance, or advice. The tragedy of his decadence is summed up in +Samuel's stern word: 'Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, +He hath also rejected thee from being king.' + +Trivial acts may show great and deep-seated evil. A small swelling +under the arm-pit is the sign of the plague and the precursor of swift +death. + +The master-sin is disobedience, self-willed departure from God. That +disobedience may be as virulently active in a trifle as in a deed that +men call great. Self-will is the tap root of all sin, however +labyrinthine the outgrowth from it. + +Disobedience honeycombs a soul. The attractive early traits in Saul's +character slowly perhaps but steadily, disappeared. The fair morning +sky was heavy with thunder-clouds by midday, and they all began with a +light fleecy film that none noticed at first. + +III. The long eclipse. + +'An evil spirit from the Lord troubled him, and the Spirit of God +departed from him.' + +Modern psychologists would call Saul's case an instance of insanity +brought about by indulgence in passion and self-will. Is there any +reason why the deeper, more religious explanation should not be united +with the scientific one? Does not God work in the working of 'natural' +phenomena? + +What we nowadays call insanity is not very far off from a man who +habitually indulges in passionate self will, and spurns God from any +authority over his life. What were Saul's characteristics now? The +story tells of bursts of ungovernable fury, of unslumbering and +universal suspicions, of utter misery, seeing enemies everywhere and +complaining, 'None of you hath pity upon me,' of ferocious cruelty and +gloomy despair, of paroxysms of agonising but transient remorse. + +It is an awful picture, and it grimly teaches lessons that we shall be +wise to write deeply on our hearts. + +What a ruin a man makes of himself! + +How hideous a godless soul is! + +What unhappiness is certain if we dismiss God from ruling our lives! + +How useless remorse is unless it leads to repentance! + +IV. The stormy sunset. + +The scene at Endor makes one's flesh creep. No more tragic picture of +failure and despair was ever painted. The greatest dramatists, whose +creations move the terror and pity of the world, have imagined no more +heart-touching figure. + +It matters very little--nothing at all in fact--either for the dramatic +force or for the religious impressiveness of the scene, whether the +woman 'brought up' Samuel, or whether she was as much awed as Saul was, +by the coming up of 'an old man' covered with the well-known 'mantle.' +The boding prophecy of to-morrow's defeat and death filled yet fuller +the cup that had seemed to be already full of all misery. And that +collapse of strength in the huddled figure, prostrate in the witch's +den, may well stand for a prophecy of what will be the upshot at the +last of a self-will that boasts of its own power, and tries to shake +off dependence on God. + + + + +WHAT DOEST THOU HERE? + +'Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews +here!'--1 SAMUEL xxix. 3. + +'The word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, What doest +thou here, Elijah?'--1 KINGS xix. 9. + + +I have put these two verses together, not only because of their +identity in form, though that is striking, but because they bear upon +one and the same subject, as will appear, if, in a word or two, I set +each of them in its setting. David was almost at the lowest point of +his fortunes when he fled into foreign territory, and for awhile took +service under one of the kings of the Philistines. He served him +faithfully, and so, when the last great fight, in which Saul lost his +life, was about to be waged between Philistia and Israel, David and his +men came as a contingent to the army of the former. The Philistine +commanders, very naturally, were suspicious of these allies, just as +Englishmen would have been if, on the night before Waterloo, a brigade +of Frenchmen had deserted and offered their help to fight Napoleon. So +the question 'What do these Hebrews here?'--amongst our ranks--was an +extremely natural one, and it was answered in the only possible way, by +the subsequent departure of David and his men from the unnatural and +ill-omened alliance. + +Now, that suggests to us that Christian people are out of their places, +even in the eyes of worldly people, when they are fighting shoulder to +shoulder with them in certain causes; and it suggests the propriety of +keeping apart. 'Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith +the Lord' 'What do these Hebrews here?' is a question that Philistia +often asks. But now turn to the other question. Elijah had fallen into +the mood of depression which so often follows great nervous tension. He +had just offered the sacrifice on Carmel, and brought all Israel back +to the Lord, and Jezebel had flamed out and threatened his life. The +usually undaunted prophet, in the reaction after his great effort, was +fearful for his life and deserted his work, flung himself into solitude +and shook the dust off his feet against Israel. Was that not just doing +what I have been saying that Christian people ought to do--separating +himself from the world? In a sense, yes, but the voice came, 'What dost +thou here, Elijah?' 'Go back to your work; to Ahab, to Jezebel. Go back +to death if need be. Do not shirk your duty on the pretence of +separating yourself from the world.' + +So we put the two questions together. They limit one another, and they +suggest the _via media,_ the course between, and lead me to say +one or two plain things about that duty of Christian separation from an +evil world. + +I. The first thing that I would suggest to you is the inevitable +intermingling, which is the law of God, and therefore can never be +broken with impunity. + +Christ's parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in the world being like a +man that sowed good seed in his field, which sprung up intermingled +with tares, contains the lesson, not so much of the purity or nonpurity +of the Church as of the inseparable intertwining in the world of +Christian people with others. The roots are matted together, and you +cannot pull up a tare without danger of pulling up a wheat-stalk that +has got interlaced with it. That is but to say that Society at present, +and the earthly form of the Kingdom of God, are not organised on the +basis of religious affinity, but upon a great many other things, such +as family, kindred, business, a thousand ties of all sorts which mat +men together, and make it undesirable, impossible, contrary to God's +intention, that the good people should club themselves together, and +leave the bad ones to rot and stink. The two are meant to be in close +contact. 'Let both grow together till the harvest.' If any Christian +man were to do as the monks of old did, fly into solitude to look after +his own soul, then the question which came to Elijah would be suitable +to him, 'What doest thou here?' Is there not work enough for you out +there, in that wicked world? Is that not the place for you? Where is +the place for the 'salt'? Where the meat is in danger of putrefaction. +Rub it in! That is what it was meant for. 'Ye are the light of the +world.' That suggests the picture of a lamp upon a pedestal that it may +send out its rays, but itself remains apart. But the companion metaphor +suggests the closest possible contact, and such contact is duty for us +Christian people. Elijah ran away from his work. There are types of +Christian life to-day unwholesomely self-engrossed, and too much +occupied with their own spiritual condition, to realise and discharge +the duty of witnessing in the world. Wherever you find a Christian man +--whether he is a monk with bare foot, and a rope round his brown robe, +and shaven head, or whether he is in the garb of modern Protestantism-- +that tries more to keep himself apart, in the enjoyment and cultivation +of his own religious life, than to fling himself into the midst of the +world's worst evil, in order to fight and to cure it, you get a man who +is sharing in Elijah's transgression, and needs Elijah's rebuke. The +intermingling is inevitable in the present state of things; and family, +kindred, business, social and political movements, all require that +Christian people should work side by side with men who are not +possessors of 'like precious faith.' If ever there have been +individuals or communities that have tried to traverse that law, they +have developed narrowness and bitterness and stunted growth, and a +hundred evils that we all know. + +II. And now let me say a word about the second thing, and that is--the +imperative separation. + +'What do these Israelites here?' is the question. Much of all our lives +lies outside these necessary connections with the world, of which I +have been speaking. And the question for each of us is, What do we do +when we are left to do as we like? Where do we go? When the iron weight +fastened by the bit of string is taken off the sapling, it starts back +to its original uprightness. Is that what your Christianity does for +you? When you are left to yourself, when you have done all the work +that is required, and you are free, where do you turn naturally? It is +of no use to lay down special regulations. There has been far too much +regulation and red-tape in our Christianity all along. Do not let us +put so much stress upon individual acts. Let us look at the spirit. +Whither do I turn? What do I like to do? Who are my chosen companions? +What are my recreations? Is my life of such a sort as that the world +will point to me, and say, 'What! you here I a professing Christian; +what are you doing here?' + +I remember that in the autobiography of Mr. Spurgeon, there is a story +told about what he did when a child, and living with his grandfather, +the pastor of a little country church. There was a very prominent +member of that church who was in the habit of going into the public- +house occasionally; and the small boy stepped into the sanded parlour +where this inconsistent man was sitting, walked up to him, and said, +'What doest thou here, Elijah?' It was the turning-point of the man's +life. That is the question that I desire us all to ask ourselves--where +do we go, and what sort of lives do we live in the moments when our own +voluntary choice determines our action? + +'A man is known by the company he keeps,' says an old Latin proverb, +and I am bound to say that I do not think that it is a good sign of the +depth of a Christian professor's religion if he feels himself more at +home in the company of people who do not share his religion than in the +company of those that do. I do not wish to be strait-laced and narrow, +but I do not wish, either, to be so broad as to obliterate altogether +the distinction between Christian people and others. The fact of the +case is this, dear friends; if we are Christ's servants we have more in +common with the most uncongenial Christians than we have with the most +congenial man who is not a Christian. And if we were nearer our Master +we should feel that it was so. 'Being let go they went to their own +company.' Where do you go when you can make your choice? + +I am not going to speak in detail about occupations or recreations. I +can quite believe that the theatre might be made an instrument of +morality. I can quite believe that a race-course might be a perfectly +innocent place. I can quite believe that there may be no harm in a +dance. All that I say is that there are two questions which every +Christian professor ought to ask himself about such subjects. One is, +Can I ask God to bless this thing, and my doing it? And the other is, +Does this help or hinder my religion? If we will take these two +questions with us as tests of conduct and companionship, I do not think +that we shall go far wrong, either in the choice of our companions, or +in the choice of our surroundings of any kind, or in the choice of our +recreations and our occupations. But if we do not, then I am quite sure +that we shall go wrong in them all. 'What communion hath light with +darkness?' 'What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Come ye +out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.' + +The main question is, do I grasp the aim of life with clearness and +decision as being to make myself by God's help such a character as God +has pleasure in? If I do I shall regulate all these things thereby. + +III. Now there is one last suggestion that I wish to make, and that is +the double questioning that we shall have to stand. + +The lords of the Philistines said, 'What do these Hebrews here?' They +saw the inconsistency, if David and his men did not. They were sharp to +detect it, and David and his band did not rise in their opinion, but +decidedly went down, when they saw them marching there, in such an +unnatural place as 'behind Achish,' and ready to flesh their swords in +the blood of their brethren. So let me tell you, you will neither +recommend your religion nor yourselves to men of the world, by +inconsistently trying to identify yourselves with them. There are a +great many professing Christians nowadays whose mouths are full of the +word 'liberality,' and who seem to try to show how absolutely identical +with a godless man's a God-fearing one's life may be made. Do you think +that the world respects that type of Christian, or regards his religion +as the kind of thing to be admired? No; the question that they fling at +such people is the question which David was humiliated by having +pitched at his head--'What do these Hebrews here?' 'Let them go back to +their mountains. This is no place for _them_.' The world respects +an out-and-out Christian; but neither God nor the world respects an +inconsistent one. + +But there is another question, and another Questioner--'What doest thou +here, Elijah?' God did not ask Elijah the question because he did not +know the answer; but because he wished to make Elijah put his mood into +words, since then Elijah would understand it a little better, and, when +he found the tremendous difficulty of making a decent excuse, would +begin to suspect that the conduct that wanted so much glozing was not +exactly the conduct fit for a prophet. And so let us think that God is +looking down upon us, in all our occupation of our free time, and that +He is wishing us to put into words what we are about, and why we are +where we are. + +What do you think you would say if, in some of these moments of +unnecessary intermingling with questionable things and doubtful people, +you were brought suddenly to this, that you had to formulate into some +kind of plausibility your reason for being there? I am afraid it would +be a very lame and ragged set of reasons that many of us would have to +give. Well! better that we should now have to answer the question 'What +doest thou here?' than that we should have to fail in answering the +future question, after we have done with the world: 'What didst thou +there?' + +Dear brethren, let us cleave to Christ, and that will separate us from +the world. If we cleave to the world, that will separate us from +Christ. I do not insist on details of conduct, but I do beseech you, +professing Christians, to recognise that you are set in the world in +order to grow like your Master, and that their tendency to help you to +that likeness is the one test of all occupations, recreations, and +companionships, by which we may know whether we are in or out of the +place that pleases Him. And if we are in it, that blessed hope which is +held forth in the parable to which I have already referred, will come +full of sweetness and of strength to us, that, yonder, men will be +grouped according to their moral and religious character; that the +tares will be taken away from the wheat, and, that as Christ says, +'Then shall the righteous flame as the sun in their heavenly Father's +Kingdom.' + + + + +THE SECRET OF COURAGE + +'But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.'--1 Samuel xxx. 6. + + +David was at perhaps the very lowest ebb of his fortunes. He had long +been a wandering outlaw, and had finally been driven, by Saul's +persistent hostility, to take refuge in the Philistines' country. He +had gathered around himself a band of desperate men, and was living +very much like a freebooter. He had found refuge in a little city of +the Philistines, far down in the South, from which he and his men had +marched as a contingent in the Philistine army, which was preparing an +attack upon Saul. But, naturally, the Philistine soldiers doubted their +ally, and he was obliged to take himself and his troops back again to +their temporary home. + +When he came there it was a heap of smoking ruins. Everything was gone; +property, cattle, wives, children--and all was desolation. His +turbulent followers rose against him, a mutiny broke out--a dangerous +thing amongst such a crew--and they were ready to stone him. And at +that moment what did he do? Nothing. Was he cast down? No. Was he +agitated? No. 'But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' + +Now the first thing I notice is + +I. The grand assurance which this man gripped fast at such a time. + +It is not by accident, nor is it a mere piece of tautology, that we +read 'the Lord _his_ God.' For, if you will remember, the very +keynote of the psalms which are ascribed to David is just that +expression, 'My God,' 'My God.' So far as the very fragmentary records +of Jewish literature go, it would appear as if David was the very first +of all the ancient singers to grapple that thought that he stood in a +personal, individual relation to God, and God to him. And so it was +_his_ God that he laid hold of at that dark hour. + +Now I am not putting too much into a little word when I insist upon it +that the very essence and nerve of what strengthened David, at that +supreme moment of desolation, was the conviction that welled up in his +heart that, in spite of it all, he had a grip of God's hand as his very +own, and God had hold of him. Just think of the difference between the +attitude of mind and heart expressed in the names that were more +familiar to the Israelitish people, and this name for Jehovah. 'The God +of Israel'--that is wide, general; and a man might use it and yet fail +to feel that it implied that each individual of the community stood by +himself in a personal relation to God. But David penetrated through the +broad, general thought, and got into the heart of the matter. It was +not enough for him, in his time of need, to stay himself upon a vague +universal goodness, but he had to clasp to his burdened heart the +individualising thought, 'the God of Israel is _my_ God.' + +Think, too, of the contrast of the thoughts and emotions suggested by +'My God,' and by 'the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.' +Great as that name is, it carries the mind away back into the past, and +speaks of a historical relation in former days, which may or may not +continue in all its tenderness and sweetness and power into the prosaic +present. But when a man feels, not only 'the God of Jacob is our +Refuge,' but, 'the God of Jacob is my God,' then the whole thing +flashes up into new power. 'My sun'--will one man claim property in +that great luminary that pours its light down on the whole world? Yes. + + 'The sun whose beams most glorious are, + Disdaineth no beholder,' + +as the old song has it. Each man's eye receives the straight impact of +its universal beams. It is my sun, though it be the light that lightens +all men that come into the world. 'My atmosphere'--will one man claim +the free, unappropriated winds of heaven as his? Yes, for they will +pour into his lungs; and yet his brother will be none the poorer. + +I would not go the length of saying that the living realisation, in +heart and mind, of this personal possession of God is the difference +between a traditional and vague profession of religion and a vital +possession of religion, but if it is not the difference, it goes a long +way towards explaining the difference. The man who contents himself +with the generality of a Gospel for the world, and who can say no more +than that Jesus Christ died for all, has yet to learn the most intimate +sweetness, and the most quickening and transforming power, of that +Gospel, and he only learns it when he says, 'Who loved _me_, and +gave Himself for _me_.' + +So do not let us be content with saying, 'the God of Israel,' and its +many thousands, or 'the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob,' +who filled the past with His lustre, but let us bring the general good +into our own houses, as men might draw the waters of Niagara into their +homes through pipes, and let us cry: 'My Lord and my God!' 'David +encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' + +II. Now note, secondly, the sufficiency of this one conviction and +assurance. + +Here is one of the many eloquent 'buts' of the Bible. On the one hand +is piled up a black heap of calamities, loss, treachery and peril; and +opposed to them is only that one clause: 'But David encouraged himself +in the Lord his God.' There was only one possession in all the world, +except his body and the clothes that he stood in, that he could call +his own at that moment. Everything else was gone; his property was +carried off by raiders, his home was smouldering embers. But the +Amalekites had not stolen God from him. Though he could no longer say, +'My house, my city, my possessions,' he could say, 'My God.' Whatever +else we lose, as long as we have Him we are rich; and whatever else we +possess, we are poor as long as we have not Him. God is enough; +whatever else may go. The Lord his God was the sufficient portion for +this man when he stood a homeless pauper. He had lost everything that +his heart clung to; wives, children; Abigail and Abinoam were captives +in the arms of some Amalekites; his house was left to him desolate; his +heart was bleeding. 'But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God' +and the bleeding heart was stanched, and the yearning for some one to +love and be loved by was satisfied, when he turned himself from the +desolation of earth to the riches in the heavens. He was standing on +the edge of possible death, for his followers were ready to stone him. +He had come through many perils in the past, but he had never been +nearer a fatal end than he was at that moment. But the thought of the +undying Friend lifted him buoyantly above the dread of death, and he +could look with an unwinking eye right into the fleshless eye-sockets +of the skeleton, and say, 'I fear no evil, for Thou art with me.' + +So for poverty, loss, the blasting of earthly hopes, the crushing of +earthly affections, the extremity of danger, and the utmost threatening +of death, here is the sufficient remedy--that one mighty assurance: +'The Lord is my God.' For if He is 'the strength of my heart,' He will +be my portion for ever.' He is not poor who has God for his, nor does +he wander with a hungry heart who can rest his heart on God's; nor need +he fear death who possesses God, and in Him eternal life. + +So, brethren, in all our changing circumstances, there is more than +enough for us in that sweet, simple, strong thought. The end of sorrow +(that is to say, the purpose thereof) is to breed in us the conviction +that God is ours, to drive us to Him by lack of all beside; and the end +of sorrow (that is to say, the termination thereof) is the kindling in +our hearts of the light of that blessed assurance, for with Him we +shall fear no evil. You never know the good of the breakwater until +the storm is rolling the waves against its outer side. Light a little +candle in a room, and you will not see the lightning when it flashes +outside, however stormy the sky, and seamed with the fiery darts. If we +have God in our hearts, we have enough for courage and for strength. + +I need not remind you, I suppose, how this darkest moment of David's +fortunes was the moment at which the darkness broke. Three days after +this _emeute_ of his turbulent followers, there came a fugitive +into the camp with news that Saul was dead and David was king. So it +was not in vain that he had 'strengthened himself in the Lord his God.' +Our 'light affliction which is but for a moment' leads on to a +manifestation of the true power of God our Friend, and to the breaking +of the day. + +III. And now the last thing to be noted is the effort by which this +assurance is attained and sustained. + +The words of the original convey even more forcibly than those of our +translation the thought of David's own action in securing him the hold +of God as his. He 'strengthened _himself_ in the Lord his God.' +The Hebrew conveys the notion of effort, persistent and continuous; and +it tells us this, that when things are as black as they were round +David at that hour--it is not a matter of course, even for a good man, +that there shall well up in his heart this tranquillising and +victorious conviction; but he has to set himself to reach and to keep +it. God will give it, but He will not give it unless the man strains +after it. David 'strengthened himself in the Lord,' and if he had not +doggedly set about resisting the pressure of circumstances, and +flinging himself as it were, by an effort, into the arms of God, +circumstances would have been too strong for him, and despair would +have shrouded his soul. In the darkest moment it is possible for a man +to surround himself with God's light, but even in the brightest it is +not possible to do so unless he makes a serious effort. + +That effort must consist mainly in two things. One is that we shall +honestly try to occupy our minds, as well as our hearts, with the truth +which certifies to us that God is, in very deed, ours. If we never +think, or think languidly and rarely, about what God has revealed to +us, by the word and life and death and intercession of Jesus Christ, +concerning Himself, His heart of love towards us, and His relations to +us, then we shall not have, either in the time of disaster or of joy, +the blessed sense that He is indeed ours. If a man will not think about +Christian truth he will not have the blessedness of Christian +possession of God. There is no mystery about the road to the sweetness +and holiness and power that may belong to a Christian. The only way to +win them is to be occupied, far more than most of us are, with the +plain truths of God's revelation in Jesus Christ. If you never think +about them they cannot affect you, and they will not make you sure that +God is yours. + +But we cannot occupy ourselves with these truths unless we have a +distinct and resolute purpose running through our lives, of averting +our eyes from the things that might make us lose sight of them and of +Him. David had his choice. He could either, as a great many of us do, +stand there and look, and look, and look, and see nothing but his +disasters, or he could look past them; and see beyond them God. Peter +had his choice whether he would look at the water, or whether he would +look at Jesus Christ. He chose to look at the water; 'and when he saw +the wind boisterous he began to sink'--of course, and when he looked at +Christ and cried: 'Lord, save me!' he was held up--equally of course. +Make the effort not to let the sorrowful things, or the difficult +things, or the fearful things, or the joyous things, in your life, +absorb you, but turn away, and, as the writer of the Epistle to the +Hebrews says, in another connection, 'look off unto Jesus, the Author +and Finisher of faith.' David had to put constraint upon himself, to +admit any other thoughts into his mind than those that were pressed +into it by the facts before his eyes; but he put on the constraint, and +so he was encouraged because he encouraged himself. + +There is another thing which we have to make an effort to do, if we +would have the blessedness of this conviction filling and flooding our +hearts. For the possession is reciprocal; we say, 'My God,' and He +says, 'My people.' Unless we yield ourselves to Him and say, 'I am +Thine,' we shall never be able to say, 'Thou art mine.' We must +recognise His possession of us; we must yield ourselves; we must obey; +we must elect Him as our chief good, we must feel that we are not our +own, but bought with a price. And then when we look up into the heavens +thus submissive, thus obedient, thus owning His authority and His +rights, as well as claiming His love and His tenderness, and cry: 'My +Father,' He will bend down and whisper into our hearts: 'Thou art My +beloved son.' Then we shall be 'strong, and of a good courage,' however +weak and timid, and we shall be rich, though, like David, we have lost +all things. + + + + +AT THE FRONT OR THE BASE + +'As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be +that tarrieth by the stuff.'--1 Samuel xxx. 24. + + +David's city of Ziklag had been captured by the Amalekites, while he +and all his men who could carry arms were absent, serving in the army +of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. On their return they found +ruin, their homes harried, their wives, children, and property carried +off. Wearied already with their long march, they set off at once in +pursuit of the spoilers, who had had a long start of them. When they +reached the brook Besor, two hundred of them were too weary and +footsore to ford it, and so had to be left behind. But these were not +useless, for the heavy baggage was left in their charge, and the other +four hundred were thus enabled to march more lightly, and therefore +more swiftly. They picked up a sick slave, whom his Amalekite master +had heartlessly abandoned to die on the 'veldt.' He was almost dead, so +they fed him, and when he was able to answer, questioned him. He +undertook to guide David and his band, and thus, as twilight was +beginning to fall and the Amalekites were 'spread abroad over all the +ground, eating and drinking and feasting because of all the great spoil +that they had taken.' the four hundred burst on them, routed them +utterly, and won back all their goods and much more. + +Then came a quarrel. The four hundred who had gone to the fight +insisted that the booty was theirs, and that the two hundred who had +had no hand in winning it should have no share in the distribution. But +David over-ruled this and laid down a principle of distribution which +was adopted as the standing law of Israel--that the soldiers who were +actually in the fight and those who stayed behind guarding the baggage, +looking after 'the base of operations,' should share alike. It was fair +that they should do so, for the two hundred would willingly have been +in the thick of battle, and, further, though they did not fight, they +helped the fighters, and by guarding the heavy baggage contributed to +the victory as really as if they had been in the fray and come out of +it with swords dripping with Amalekite blood. + +I. God's battle requires two forms of service. + +In David's raid, as in every campaign, some of the available strength +has to be taken to guard the camp, the place where the supplies are, +the base of operations, and pickets and detachments have to be left +behind all the way, to keep open the communication. The sword is not +more needful than the long train of baggage carts, and the forwarding +of supplies to the front is as indispensable to the conduct of the war +as the headlong charge. + +In every great work there is the same distinction of parts and +functions, all co-operating to produce the effect which seems to be +entirely due to that cause which happens to come last in the series. +Organisation of labour associates many hands in the different stages of +the one result. There are very few things in this world which are the +product of one simple cause alone. You cannot grow a grain of corn +without the seed with its vital germ, the soil with its mysterious +influences, the sunshine and the rain, the sower's hand and basket, the +plougher's plough, and all these, except the blessed sunshine, are the +results of a series of other causes which lie forgotten, but are really +represented in the issue. If one of them were struck out, all the rest +would be ineffectual. In a great machine all its parts are equally +necessary, and a defect in a cog on a wheel would be as fatal as a flaw +in the cylinder or a crack in the mighty shaft. What would become of a +ship if the pintle that the rudder works on were away? The effect of a +whole orchestra may depend on the coming in of the flute at the right +place. + +So in the work which God has given to the Church to do, there are the +two forms of service, the direct and the indirect. There are the +fighters and the guards of the baggage. And these two are equally +necessary. That without which a great work could not have been done is +great. When Luther came out from the Diet of Worms, and a knight +clapped him on the shoulder, and said, 'Well done! little monk,' he had +a share in the memorable deed of that day. The man who gave Luther a +flagon of beer when his lips were dry with speaking there before +emperor and cardinals, was included in the promise to the giver 'of a +cup of cold water in the name of a disciple.' + +We have brethren in Christ who have gone to the front, hazarding their +lives on the high places of the field. Their hands will droop if they +do not feel that a chain of sympathy stretches between them and us, for +they in their solitude need all the strength which the confidence of a +multitude at home feeling with them can give. They are powerfully +influenced by the tone of feeling among us. When devotion languishes +and faith droops here, these will generally pass through the same +phases among them. When we are strong and bold, their hearts will be +quickened by the pulsations of ours, and their courage heightened by +thoughts of those from whom they come. Our disorders, our heresies, our +struggles are all reproduced on the mission field. An epidemic here +travels thither before long, and the spiritual condition of the Church +at home is one of the most powerful means of determining that of the +churches abroad. A blight among our vines soon shows itself in the +little gardens just reclaimed from the waste. + +The fighters need material helps and appliances for their work. The +days in which the law for apostles and missionaries was, 'Go forth +without purse or scrip,' ended before Jesus said, 'Go ye into all the +world.' That condition was solemnly revoked by our Lord Himself, when +He said, 'When I sent you forth without purse and scrip and shoes, +lacked ye anything? But now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and +likewise his scrip.' The fighters' material wants are now to be met by +Christ's administration of natural means, even as before they had been +met by Christ's administration of supernatural ones. His messengers +cannot live, do their work, or extend the kingdom, but by the help of +material appliances. Those who 'abide by the stuff' are to organise the +commissariat department, and to see that those who are far ahead, among +the ranks of the foe, do not want for either food or weapons, and are +not left isolated, hemmed in by the enemy, and languishing because they +feel that they are forgotten by those who 'live at home at ease.' + +There has always been that division of labour. Our Lord Himself 'had +need of' many humble instruments as helpers. There were the woman who +ministered to His wants, the faithful few whose presence and sympathy +were joyful to Him even on the Mount of Transfiguration, and longed for +even in the awful solitude of the agony in Gethsemane, the sisters of +Bethany whose humble home was His last shelter before the Cross, the +owner of the Upper Room, the sad women who prepared sweet spices, the +ruler who consecrated his new sepulchre in a garden by His body. Even +He, treading the wine-press alone, needed helpers in the background, +and, while conquering for us in the awful duel with our enemy, had +humble friends who 'tarried by the stuff.' Similarly Paul had his +helpers, on whose names he lovingly lingers and has made immortal, a +'Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church,' an 'Epaphroditus, my +fellow soldier, who ministered to my wants,' and therefore was a +soldier, though he did not fight, an 'Onesiphorus, who oft refreshed +me, and was not ashamed of my chain.' + +But let us remember that these two forms of service which are equally +necessary are equally binding on us all, in the measure of our +opportunity and capacity. Our performing the indirect is no excuse for +our neglecting the direct. The conversion of the world is _our_ +business and not to be handed over to any society or missionary. No +Christian can be only and always a non-combatant, without sin and loss. +He is bound to take some share in the actual conflict in one or other +of its many parts. + +II. Service may be different in kind and one in essence. + +The determining element in our actions is their motive. Not what we +work in, but what we work for, gives the principle of classification. +Not the spots on the skin or the colour of the feathers, but the bony +skeleton, is the basis of zoological classification. It is not the size +or binding of a book, be it quarto or folio or octavo, be it in leather +or cloth or paper covers, but its subject, that settles its place in a +catalogue. The Christian motives of love to Christ, self-sacrifice, +devotion, love to men, make all deeds the same which have these in them +in like strength. It matters not whether the copy of a great picture be +in oils or an engraving or a photograph, so long as it _is_ a +copy. The smallest piece of indirect Christian service may be thus +elevated to the same plane as the greatest. + +'Mere money-giving' may have in it all these qualities, as truly and in +as great a degree, as the deeds of Apostles and martyrs. Remember how +Peter puts in one category these two forms of service, as equally +flowing from 'the manifold grace of God,' and equally to be exercised +as 'good stewards' thereof--'If any man speaketh, speaking as it were +the oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering as of the +strength which God supplieth.' Remember how Paul classes all varieties +of service as equally 'gifts according to the grace given to us,' and +to be exercised in the same spirit whatever are the difference in their +forms: 'or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that +teacheth, to his teaching: he that giveth, let him do it with +liberality ... he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.' + +Let us learn, then, how we ought to help Christian fighters for Christ +--as associating ourselves with them and their work by sympathy and +sharing in their spirit and motives. + +Let us learn how loftily we ought to think of the possible sacredness +of the most secular forms of help, and to try thus to consecrate our +indirect service. + +III. All work done from the same motive will receive the same reward. + + +None need be startled by the thought that Christian work is rewarded. +Essentially, it is not deeds but character that is rewarded. The +'reward' is the possession of God of which such a character is capable, +and the consequent blessedness which fills such a soul, and cannot but +fill it, and which can be enjoyed by no other. The faithful servant +enters into the joy of the Lord; the faithful administrator of his +Lord's talents enters on the rule over cities in number the same as the +talents. Capacity for service is the result of stewardship rightly +administered here, and new opportunities yonder are sure to be provided +for new capacities. + +God's judgment takes little note of that which men's judgment all but +exclusively notes. The conspicuousness or success of a man's deeds is +nothing to Him. Differences of power are of no account. It is +_faithfulness_ that is required in a steward, and it is all the +same whether the stewardship is of millions or of farthings. The saints +nearest the glory in heaven will not always be the men whose words or +deeds fill the pages of Church history and resound through the ages. +There will be astounding new principles of nearness and comparative +remoteness then. + +Christ was repeating what David made a law in Israel, when He said: 'He +that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a +prophet's reward.' Therein He recognises the identity in spiritual +stature and motive for service, of the prophet and of his dumb helper, +and assures us that those who, in widely different ways but under the +guidance of the same spirit and motives, have contributed their +respective shares to the one triumphant result shall be associated and +equalised in the immortal reward. + +So remember that what is necessary in our indirect work, if it is to be +thus honoured, is that it should have our devotion, and our love to +Jesus and to men, throbbing in it, and that it should be accompanied by +direct work, in so far as we have opportunities for that. Moneygiving +may be made sacred, and by it, exercised in the right spirit, we may +'lay up in store for ourselves a good foundation' and may 'lay hold +upon eternal life.' + + + + +THE END OF SELF-WILL + +'Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled +from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 2. +And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the +Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, Saul's sons. +3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and +he was sore wounded of the archers. 4. Then said Saul unto his +armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest +these uncircumsised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his +armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a +sword, and fell upon it 5. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was +dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. 6. So Saul +died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that +same day together. 7. And when the men of Israel that were on the other +side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw +that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they +forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in +them. 8. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came +to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in +mount Gilboa. 9. And they out off his head, and stripped off his +armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to +publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. 10. And +they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his +body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11. And when the inhabitants of Jabesh- +gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; 12. All +the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul +and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to +Jabesh, and burnt them there. 19. And they took their bones, and buried +them under a tree at Jabesh. and fasted seven days.'-1 Samuel xxxi. 1- +13. + + +The story of Saul's tragic last days is broken in two by the account, +in chapters xxix. and xxx., of David's fortunate dismissal from the +invading army, and his exploits against Amalek. The contrast between +the two lives, so closely intertwined and powerful for good and evil on +each other, reaches its climax at the end of Saul's. While the one sets +in dark thunderclouds, the other is bright with victory. While the fall +of Saul lays all northern Israel bleeding at the feet of the enemy, +David is sending the spoils of his conquest to the elders of Judah. +Saul's headless and dishonoured body hangs rotting in the sun on the +walk of Bethshan, while David sits a conqueror in Ziklag. The +introduction of the brightness of the two preceding chapters is +intended to heighten the darkness that broods over this one, and to +deepen the stern teaching of that terrible death. Defeat, desolation, +despair, attend to his self-dug grave the unhappy king, whose end +teaches us all what comes of self-willed resistance to the law and the +Spirit of God. Everything else is subordinated in the narrative to the +account of his death. Next to nothing is said about the battle, the +very site of which is left obscure. We cannot tell whether it was +fought down in the plain by the fountain at Jezreel, where Israel was +encamped, according to 1 Samuel xxix. 1, or whether both sides +manoeuvred and changed their ground, and the decisive struggle was on +the slope of Gilboa. In any case, the site was almost identical with +that of Gideon's victory, but there was no Gideon in command on that +dark day. The language of verse 1 seems to imply that the battle was +over and the rout begun before the Israelites reached Gilboa. If so, we +have to conceive of a short, hopeless struggle on the plain, and then a +rush to the hills for safety, in which Saul and his sons and bodyguard +were borne along, but held together, closely followed by the 'red +pursuing spear' of the conquerors, fierce with ancestral hate and the +memories of defeat. There, on the hillside, stands the towering form of +Saul with a little ring of his children and retainers round him, the +words he had heard last night in the sorceress' tent unnerving his arm, +and many a past crime rising before him, and whispering in his ear, + + 'In the battle think on me, + And fall thy edgeless sword; despair and die.' + +There seems to have been a close encounter with some of the pursuers, +and a hand-to-hand fight, in which Jonathan and his two brothers fell, +and the rest of the bodyguard were slain or scattered. The prophecy of +that mantle-swathed shape last night was in part fulfilled--'To-morrow +shalt thou and thy sons be with me.' They lay stark at his feet, and he +knew that he would soon join them. The last heart that loved him had +ceased to beat in Jonathan's noble breast, and his own crimes had slain +his sons. Who can paint the storm of contending passions in that lonely +black soul? or were they all frozen into the numbness of despair? + +But whatever else was in his soul, repentance was not there. He may +have been seared by remorse, but he was not softened by penitence, and +was fierce and proud in despair as he had been in prosperity. The +Revised Version substitutes 'overtook' for 'hit' in verse 3; but Saul's +fear 'lest these uncircumcised come' is against that rendering, and the +fact that the enemy did not know of his death till next day (v. 8) is a +difficulty in the way of accepting it. The word is literally 'found' +and possibly means that the archers recognised him, and were making for +him, though, as would appear, from some cause they missed him in the +confusion. The other change in the Revised Version, that of 'greatly +distressed' for 'sore wounded' fits the context; and if it be adopted, +we have the picture of the unwounded but desperate man, once brave, but +now stricken with a panic which opens his lips for his only word. In +grim silence he had met the loss of battle, sons, and kingdom; but the +proud sense of personal dignity is strong to the end, and he fiercely +issues his last command, and embraces death to escape insult. The +haughty spirit was unchanged, crushed but the same, unsoftened, and +therefore roused to madder defiance of God and man. What an awful last +saying for 'the anointed of Jehovah,' and how the overweening self-will +and vehemence and passionate pride of his whole life are gathered up in +it! + +His last command is disobeyed by the trembling armour-bearer, whose +very awe makes him disobedient, Did Saul, at that last moment, send a +thought to an armour-bearer whom he had had in happier days, and who +was to inherit his lost kingdom? The enemy are coming nearer. No time +is to be lost if he would escape the savage mutilations and torments +which ancient warfare made the portion of captive kings. Not another +word passes his lips, but, in the same grim silence, he fixes his sword +upright in the ground, and flings himself on its point, and dies. All +through his reign no hand had injured him but his own; and, as he +lived, so he died, his own undoer and his own murderer. Suicide, the +refuge of defeated monarchs and praised by heathen moralists as heroic, +was rare in Israel. Saul, Ahithophel, and Judas are the instances of +it. The most rudimentary recognition of the truths taught by the Old +Testament would prevent it. If Saul had had any faith in God, any +submission, any repentance, he could not have finished a life of +rebellion by a self-inflicted death, which was itself the very +desperation of rebellion. We have not to pronounce on his fate, but his +act was a sin of the darkest dye. + +Yet note how the narrative abstains from all comment. It neither +condemns nor pities, though a profound sense of the tragic eclipse is +audible in that summing up in verse 6: 'So Saul died, and his three +sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men (that is, immediate +followers or escort), that same day together.' And there they all lay, +bloody corpses in the fellowship of death, on the slopes of Gilboa. +Where Scripture Is silent, it is not our part to speak; but we can +scarcely turn from that mighty form, prone by his own rash act, without +seeking to learn the lesson of his life and fate. Saul had many noble +and lovable qualities, such as bravery, promptitude, in his earlier +days modesty and generosity. All these he had by nature, but there is +no sign that he ever sought to cultivate his moral character, or to win +any grace that did not come naturally to him; nor is there any reason +to suppose that religion had ever any strong hold on him. His whole +character may be summed up in Samuel's words in announcing his +rejection: 'Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is +as idolatry.' Rebellion persisted in, in spite of all remonstrances and +checks, till it becomes master of the whole man, is the keynote of his +later years. Before that baleful influence, as before some hot poison +wind, all the flowers of good dispositions were burned up, and the bad +stimulated to growth. His early virtues disappeared, and passed into +their opposites. Modesty became arrogance, and a long course of +indulgence in self-will developed cruelty, gloomy suspicion, and +passionate anger, and left him the victim and slave of his own +causeless hate. He who rebels against God mars his own character. The +miserable later years of Saul, haunted and hunted as by a demon by his +own indulged and swollen rebellion and unsleeping suspicion, are an +example of the sorrows that ever dog sin; and, as he lies there on +Gilboa, the terrible saying recurs to our memory: 'He that being often +reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that +without remedy.' + +The remainder of the chapter is occupied with three points, bearing on +the solemn tragedy just recorded. First, we have the disastrous effects +of it in the complete loss of the northern territories. 'The men ... +that were on the other side of the valley' are the tribes to the north +of the great plain; and 'they that were on the other side Jordan' are +probably those on the east bank. So thorough was the defeat, especially +as Saul and the royal house were slain, that they abandoned their +homes, and the Philistines took possession. 'One sinner destroyeth much +good.' When Israel's king was madly rebellious, Israel was smitten, and +its inheritance diminished. + +Next we have the insults to the headless corpses. The Philistines did +not know till the following day how complete was their victory. The +account in 1 Chronicles x. adds that Saul's head was sent to the temple +of Dagon, probably as a kind of effacing of the shame wrought there by +the presence of the ark. The false gods had triumphed, as their +worshippers thought, and Saul's death was Jehovah's defeat. That +apparent victory of the idols and the mocking exultation over the +bloody trophy and dinted armour are, to the historian, not the least +bitter consequences of the battle. + +The last point is the brave midnight march of the men of Jabesh from +their home on the eastern uplands beyond Jordan, across the river and +up to Bethshan, perched on its lofty cliff, and overlooking the valley +of the Jordan. It was a requital of Saul's deed in his early bright +days, when, with his hastily raised levies, he scattered the Ammonites. +It is one gleam of light amid the stormy sunset. There were men ready +to hazard their lives even then, because of the noblest of Saul's acts, +which no tyrannical arbitrariness or fierceness of later days had +blotted out. So the little band of grateful heroes carried back their +ghastly load to Jabesh, and burned the mutilated bodies there, +employing an unfamiliar mode, as we may suppose, by reason of their +mutilation and decomposition, and then reverently gathering the white +bones from the pyre, and laying them below the well-known tamarisk. +Saul's one good deed as king sowed seeds of gratitude which flourished +again, when the opportunity came. His many evil ones sowed evil seed +which bore fatal fruit; and both were seen in his end. + + + + +EXPOSITIONS OF +HOLY SCRIPTURE + +ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D. D., Litt. D. + + +SECOND SAMUEL AND THE BOOKS OF KINGS +TO SECOND KINGS VII + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL + +THE BRIGHT DAWN OF A REIGN (2 Samuel ii. 1-11) +ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD (2 Samuel v. 1-12) +DEATH AND LIFE FROM THE ARK (2 Samuel vi. 1-12) +THE ARK IN THE HOUSE OF OBED-EDOM (2 Samuel vi. 11) +THE PROMISED KING AND TEMPLE-BUILDER (2 Samuel vii. 4-16) +DAVID'S GRATITUDE (2 Samuel vii. 18-29) +DAVID AND JONATHAN'S SON (2 Samuel ix. 1-13) +'MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM' (2 Samuel x. 8-19) +THOU ART THE MAN (2 Samuel xii. 5-7) +DAVID AND NATHAN (2 Samuel xii. 13) +GOD'S BANISHED ONES (2 Samuel xiv. 14) +PARDONED SIN PUNISHED (2 Samuel xv. 1-12) +A LOYAL VOW (2 Samuel xv. 15) +ITTAI OF GATH (2 Samuel xv. 21) +THE WAIL OF A BROKEN HEART (2 Samuel xviii. 18-33) +BARZILLAI (2 Samuel xix. 34-37) +DAVID'S HYMN OF VICTORY (2 Samuel xxii. 40-51) +THE DYING KING'S LAST VISION AND PSALM (2 Samuel xxiii. 1-7) +THE ROYAL JUBILEE (2 Samuel xxiii. 3, 4) +A LIBATION TO JEHOVAH (2 Samuel xxiii. 15-17) + + +THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS + +DAVID APPOINTING SOLOMON (1 KINGS i. 28-39) +A YOUNG MAN'S WISE CHOICE OF WISDOM (1 Kings iii. 5-l5) +THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS (1 Kings iv. 25-34) +GREAT PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT WORK (1 Kings v. 1-12) +BUILDING IN SILENCE (1 Kings vi. 7) +THE KING 'BLESSING' HIS PEOPLE (1 KINGS viii. 51-63) +'THE MATTER OF A DAY IN ITS DAY' (1 Kings viii. 59) +PROMISES AND THREATENINGS (1 Kings ix. 1-9) +A ROYAL SEEKER AFTER WISDOM (1 Kings x. 1-13) +THE FALL OF SOLOMON (1 Kings xi. 4-13) +THE NEW GARMENT RENT (1 Kings xi. 26-43) +HOW TO SPLIT A KINGDOM (1 Kings xii. 1-17) +POLITICAL RELIGION (1 Kings xii. 25-33) +THE RECORD OF TWO KINGS (1 Kings xvi. 23-33) +A PROPHET'S STRANGE PROVIDERS (1 Kings xvii. 1-16) +ELIJAH STANDING BEFORE THE LORD (1 Kings xvii. 1) +OBADIAH (1 Kings xviii. 12) +THE TRIAL BY FIRE (1 Kings xviii. 25-39) +ELIJAH'S WEAKNESS, AND ITS CURE (1 Kings xix. 1-18) +PUTTING ON THE ARMOUR (1 Kings xx. 11) +ROYAL MURDERERS (1 Kings xxi. 1-16) +AHAB AND ELIJAH (1 Kings xxi. 20) +UNPOSSESSED POSSESSIONS (1 Kings xxii. 3) +AHAB AND MICAIAH (1 Kings xxii. 7, 8) + + +THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS + +THE CHARIOT OF FIRE (2 Kings ii. 1-11) +THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH AND THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST (2 Kings ii. 11; +Luke xxiv. 51) +ELIJAH'S TRANSLATION AND ELISHA'S DEATHBED (2 Kings ii. 12; +Kings xiii. II) +GENTLENESS SUCCEEDING STRENGTH (2 Kings ii. 13-22) +WHEN THE OIL FLOWS (2 Kings iv. 6) +A MIRACLE NEEDING EFFORT (2 Kings iv. 25-37) +NAAMAN'S WRATH (2 Kings v. 10, 11) +NAAMAN'S IMPERFECT FAITH (2 Kings v. 15-27) +SIGHT AND BLINDNESS (2 Kings vi. 3-18) +'IMPOSSIBLE,--ONLY I SAW IT' (2 Kings vii. 1-16) +SILENT CHRISTIANS (2 Kings vii. 9) + + + + +THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL + + + + +THE BRIGHT DAWN OF A REIGN + +'And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the Lord, +saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord +said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And He +said, Unto Hebron. 2. So David went up thither, and his two wives also, +Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, Nabal's wife, the Carmelite. 3. +And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his +household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4. And the men of +Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. +And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they +that buried Saul. 5. And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh- +gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have +shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried +him. 6. And now the Lord shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also +will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. 7. +Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for +your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me +king over them. 8. But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, +took Ishb-osheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9. +And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over +Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10. +Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over +Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. +11. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah +was seven years and six months.'--2 SAMUEL ii. 1-11. + + +The last stage of David's wanderings had brought him to Ziklag, a +Philistine city. There he had been for over a year, during which he had +won the regard of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. He had, at +Achish's request, accompanied him with his contingent, in the invasion +of Israel, which crushed Saul's house at Gilboa; but jealousy on the +part of the other Philistine leaders had obliged his patron to send him +back to Ziklag. He found it a heap of ashes. An Amalekite raid had +carried off all the women and children, and his soldiers were on the +point of mutiny. His fortunes seemed desperate, but his courage and +faith were high, and he paused not a moment for useless sorrow, but +swept after the robbers, swooped down on them like a bolt out of the +blue, and scattered them, recovering the captives and spoil. He went +back to the ruins which had been Ziklag, and three days after heard of +Saul's death. + +The lowest point of his fortunes suddenly turned into the highest, for +now the path to the throne was open. But the tidings did not move him +to joy. His first thought was not for himself, but for Saul and +Jonathan, whose old love to him shone out again, glorified by their +deaths. Swift vengeance from his hand struck Saul's slayer; the lovely +elegy on the great king and his son eased his heart. Then he turned to +front his new circumstances, and this passage shows how a God-fearing +man will meet the summons to dignity which is duty. It sets forth +David's conduct in three aspects-his assumption of his kingdom, his +loving regard for Saul's memory, and his demeanour in the face of +rebellion. + +I. David was now about thirty years old, and had had his character +tested and matured by his hard experiences. He 'learned in suffering +what he taught in song.' Exile, poverty, and danger are harsh but +effectual teachers, if accepted by a devout spirit, and fronted with +brave effort. The fugitive's cave was a good preparation for the king's +palace. The throne to which he was called was no soft seat for repose. +The Philistine invasion had torn away all the northern territory. He +took the helm in a tempest. What was he to do? Ziklag was untenable; +where was he to take his men? He could not stop in the Philistine +territory, and he saw no way clear. + +God's servants generally find that their promotion means harder duties +and multiplied perplexities. 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.' +David did what we shall do, if we are wise--he asked God to guide him. +How that guidance was asked and given we are not here told; but the +analogy of 1 Samuel xxx. 7, 8, suggests that it was by the Urim and +Thummim, interpreted by the high-priest. The form of inquiry seems to +have been that a course of action, suggested by the inquirer, was +decided for him by a 'Yes' or a 'No.' So that there was the exercise of +common-sense and judgment in formulating the proposed course, as well +as that of God's direction in determining it. + +That is how we still get divine direction. Bring your own wits to bear +on your action, and then do not obstinately stick to what seems right +to you, but ask God to negative it if it is wrong, and to confirm you +in it if it is right. If we humbly ask Him, 'Am I to go, or not to go?' +we shall not be left unanswered. We note the contrast between David's +submission to God's guidance and Saul's self-willed taking his own way, +in spite of Samuel. He began right, and, in the main, he continued as +he began. Self-will is sin and ruin. Submission is joy, and peace, and +success. God's kings are viceroys. They have to rule themselves and the +world, but they have to be ruled by His will. If they faithfully +continue as His servants, they are masters of all besides. + +Hebron was a good capital for the new king, for it was a defensible +position, in the centre of his own tribe, and sacred by association +with the patriarchs. Established there, David was recognised as king by +his fellow-tribesmen, and by them only. No doubt, tribal jealousy was +partly the cause of this limited recognition, but probably the +confusion incident to the Philistine victory contributed to it. The +result was that, though David's designation by Samuel to the kingship +was universally known, and his candidature had been popular, he had +seven years of precarious sway over this mere fraction of the nation. +We read of no impatience on his part. He let events shape themselves, +or, rather, he let God shape events. + +Passiveness is not always indolence. There are two ways of compassing +our desires. One is that which David himself tells us is the 'young +lions' way, of struggling and fighting, and that often ends in 'lacking +and suffering hunger'; the other is that of waiting on the Lord, and +that always ends in 'not lacking any good.' If we are sure that God has +promised us anything, and if He does not seem to have yet opened the +way to obtaining it, our 'strength is to sit still.' If He has given us +Hebron, we can be patient till He please to give us Jerusalem. + +II. Another side of David's character comes beautifully out in his +treatment of the men of Jabesh-gilead. That town owed much to Saul (1 +Samuel xi.), and its gratitude lasted, and dared much for him. It was a +brave dash that they made across Jordan to carry off Saul's corpse from +its ignominious exposure; for it both defied the Philistines, and might +be construed as hostile to David. But his heart was too true to ancient +friendship to do anything but glow with admiring sympathy at that +exhibition of affectionate remembrance. Reconciling death had swept +away all memories of Saul's insane jealousy, and he owned a brother in +every one who showed kindness to the unfortunate king. + +If the Jabesh-Gileadites are a pattern of long-memoried gratitude, +David's commendation of them is a model of love which survives +injuries, and of forgivingness which forgets them. It was as politic as +it was generous. Nothing could have been better calculated to attach +Saul's most devoted partisans to him than showing that he honoured +their faithful attachment to Saul, and nothing could have more clearly +defined his own position during his wanderings as being no rebel. The +dictates of true policy and those of devout generosity always coincide. +It is ever a blunder to be unforgiving, and mercifulness is always +expedient. + +But David did not hide his claim to the allegiance of these true +hearts. He called on them to transfer their loyalty to himself, and he +asserted, not his anointing by Samuel, but his recognition by Judah, +the premier tribe, as the motive. No doubt the divine appointment is +implied, as it was generally known, but Judah's action is put forward +as showing the beginning of the realisation of the divine designation. +The men of Jabesh needed to 'be valiant' if they were to acknowledge +him; for it was a far cry to Hebron, and the forces of the rival son of +Saul were overrunning the northern districts. + +We have to take our sides in the age-long and worldwide warfare between +God's King and the pretenders to His throne, and it often wants much +courage to do so when surrounded by antagonists. It seems a long way +off to the true monarch, and Abner's army is a very solid reality, and +very near. But it is safest to take the side of the distant, rightful +king. + +III. David's bearing in the face of opposition and rebellion comes out +in verses 8-11. Abner, Saul's cousin, who had been in high position +when the stripling from Bethlehem fought Goliath, was not capable of +the self-effacement involved in acquiescing in David's accession, +though he knew that the Lord had 'sworn to David.' So he set up a 'King +Do-nothing' in the person of a weak lad, the only survivor of Saul's +sons. A strange state of mind that, which struggles against a +recognised divine appointment! + +But is it only Abner who knew that he was trying to thwart God's will? +Thousands of us are doing the same, and the attempt answers as well as +it did in his case. + +The puppet king is named Ishbosheth in the lesson, but I Chronicles +viii. 33 and ix. 39 show that his real name was Esh-baal. The former +word means 'The man of shame'; the latter, 'The man of Baal.' The +existence of Baal as an element in names seems to indicate the +incompleteness of the emancipation from idolatry in Saul's time, and +the change will then indicate the keener monotheistic conscience of +later days. Another explanation is that Baal (' Lord') was in these +cases used as a name for Jehovah, and was 'changed at a later period +for the purpose of avoiding what was interpreted then as a compound of +the name of the Phoenician deity Baal' (Driver, _Notes on Hebrew Text +of the Books of Samuel_). + +Abner set up his tool in Mahanaim, sacred for its associations with +Jacob, but, no doubt, recommended to him rather by its position on the +east side of Jordan, safe from the attacks of the victorious +Philistines. From that fastness he made raids to recover the territory +which the victory at Gilboa had won for them. First Gilead, on the same +side of the river as Mahanaim; then the territory of the 'Ashurites'-- +probably a scribe's error for 'Asherites,' the most northern tribe; and +then, coming southward, the great plain, with its cities, Ephraim and +Benjamin,--in fact, all Israel except Judah's country was reconquered +for Saul's house. + +The account of the distribution of territory between the two monarchies +is broken by the parenthesis in verse 10, which, both by its awkward +interposition in the middle of a sentence and by its difficult +chronological statements, looks like a late addition. + +For seven and a half years David reigned in Hebron, but was rather shut +up there than ruling thence. The most noteworthy fact is that he, +soldier as he was, took no steps to put down Abner's rebellion. He +defended himself when attacked, but that was all. The three figures of +David, Ishbosheth, and Abner point lessons. Silent, still, trustful, +and therefore patient, David shows us how faith in God can lead to +possessing one's soul in patience till 'the vision' comes. We may have +to wait for it, but 'it will surely come,' and what is time enough for +God should be time enough for us. Saul's son was a poor, weak creature, +who would never have thought of resisting David but for the stronger +will behind him. To be weak is, in this world full of tempters, to +drift into being wicked. We have to learn betimes to say 'No,' and to +stick to it. Moral weakness attracts tempters as surely as a camel +fallen by the caravan track draws vultures from every corner of the +sky. The fierce soldier who fought for his own hand while professing to +be moved by loyalty to the dead king, may stand as a type of the self- +deception with which we gloss over our ugliest selfishness with fine +names, and for an instance of the madness which leads men to set +themselves against God's plans, and therefore to be dashed in pieces, +as some slim barrier reared across the track of a train would be. To +'rush against the thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler' does no harm +to the buckler, but kills the insane assailant. + + + + +ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD + +'Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, +saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 2. Also in time past, +when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and +broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed My +people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. 3. So all the +elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a +league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David +king over Israel. 4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign; +and he reigned forty years. 5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven +years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three +years over all Israel and Judah, 6. And the king and his men went to +Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; which spake +unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou +shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. 7. +Nevertheless, David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city +of David. 8. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the +gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are +hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they +said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. 9. So David +dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built +round about from Millo and inward. 10. And David went on, and grew +great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. 11. And Hiram king of +Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and +masons: and they built David an house. 12. And David perceived that the +Lord had established him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his +kingdom for His people Israel's sake.'--2 SAMUEL v. 1-12. + + +The dark day on Gilboa put the Philistines in possession of most of +Saul's kingdom. Only in the south David held his ground, and Abner had +to cross Jordan to find a place of security for the remnants of the +royal house. The completeness of the Philistine conquest is marked, not +only by Abner's flight to Mahanaim, but by the reckoning that David +reigned for seven and a half years and Ishbosheth two; for these +periods must be supposed to have ended very nearly at the same time, +and thus there would be about five years before the invaders were so +far got rid of that Ishbosheth exercised sovereignty over his part of +Israel. It is singular that David should have been left unattacked by +the Philistines, and it is probably to be explained by the friendly +relations which had sprung up between Achish, king of Gath, and him (1 +Samuel xxix.). However that may be, his power was continually +increasing during his reign at Hebron over Judah, and at last Abner's +death and the assassination of the poor phantom king, Ishbosheth, +brought about the total collapse of opposition. + +I. This passage deals first with the submission of the tribes and the +reunion of the divided kingdom. A comparison of verse I with verse 3 +shows that a formal delegation of elders from all the tribes which had +held by Ishbosheth, came to Hebron with their submission. The account +in I Chronicles is a _verbatim_ copy of this one, with the +addition of a glowing picture of the accompanying feasting and joy. It +also places much emphasis on the sincerity of David's new subjects, +which needed some endorsement; for loyalty which has been disloyal as +long as it durst, may be suspected. The elders have their mouths full +of excellent reasons for recognising David's kingship,--he is their +brother; he was their true leader in war, even in Saul's time; he has +been appointed by God to be king and commander. Unfortunately, it had +taken the elders seven and a half years to feel the force of these +reasons, and probably their perceptions would still have remained dull +if Abner and Ishbosheth had lived. But David is both magnanimous and +politic, and neither bloodshed nor reproaches mar the close of the +strife. Seldom has so formidable a civil war been ended with so +complete an amnesty. Observe the expression that David 'made a league +with them... before the Lord.' The Israelitish monarch was no despot, +but, in modern language, a constitutional king, between whom and his +subjects there was a compact, which he as well as they had to observe. +In what sense was it made 'before the Lord'? The ark was not at Hebron, +though the priests were; and the phrase is at once a testimony to the +religious character of the 'league' and to the consciousness of God's +presence, apart from the symbol of His presence. It points to a higher +conception than that which brought the ark to Ebenezer, and dreamed +that the ark had brought God to the army. Modern theories of the +religious development of the Old Testament ask us to recognise these +two conceptions as successive. The fact is that they were +contemporaneous, and that the difference between them is not one of +time, but of spiritual susceptibility. Who anointed David for this +third time? Apparently the elders, for priests are not mentioned. +Samuel had anointed him, as token of the divine choice and symbol of +the divine gifts for his office. The men of Judah had anointed him, and +finally the elders did so, in token of the popular confirmation of +God's choice. + +So David has reached the throne at last. Schooled by suffering, and in +the full maturity of his powers, enriched by the singularly varied +experiences of his changeful life, tempered by the swift alternations +of heat and cold, polished by friction, consolidated by heavy blows, he +has been welded into a fitting instrument for God's purposes. Thus does +He ever prepare for larger service. Thus does He ever reward patient +trust. Through trials to a throne is the law for all noble lives in +regard to their earthly progress, as well as in regard to the relation +between earth and heaven. But David is not only a pattern instance of +how God trains His servants, but he is a prophetic person; and in his +progress to his kingdom we have dimly, but really, shadowed the path by +which his Son and Lord attains to His,--a path thickly strewn with +thorns, and plunging into 'valleys of the shadow of death' compared +with which David's darkest hour was sunny. The psalms of the persecuted +exile have sounding through them a deeper sorrow; for they 'testified +beforehand the sufferings of Christ.' 'No cross, no crown,' is the +lesson of David's earlier life. + +II. We have, next, the first victory of the reunited nation. Hebron was +too far south for the capital of the whole kingdom. Jerusalem was more +central, and, from its position, surrounded on three sides with steep +ravines, was a strong military post. David's soldier's eye saw its +advantages; and he, no doubt, desired to weld the monarchy together by +participation in danger and triumph. The new glow of national unity +would seek some great exploit, and would resent as an insult the +presence of the Jebusites in their stronghold. The attack on it +immediately follows the recognition of David's kingship. It is not +necessary here to discuss the difficulties in verses 6-8; but we note +that they give, first, the insolent boast of the besieged, then the +twofold answer to it in fact and in word, and last, the memorial of the +victory in a proverb. Apparently the Jebusites' taunt is best +understood as in the margin of the Revised Version,' Thou shalt not +come in hither, but the blind and the lame shall turn thee away,' They +were so sure that their ravines made them safe, that they either +actually manned their walls with blind men and cripples, or jeeringly +shouted to the enemy across the valley that these would do for a +garrison. The other possible meaning of the words as they stand in the +Authorised Version would make 'the blind and lame' refer to David's +men, and the taunt would mean, 'You will have to weed out your men. It +will take sharper eyes and more agile limbs than theirs to clamber up +here'; but the former explanation is the more probable. Such braggart +speeches were quite in the manner of ancient warfare. + +Verse 7 tells what the answer to this mocking shout from the ramparts +was, David did the impossible, and took the city. Courage built on +faith has a way of making the world's predictions of what it cannot do +look rather ridiculous. David wastes no words in answering the taunt; +but it stirs him to fierce anger, and nerves him and his men for their +desperate charge. The obscure words in verse 8, which he speaks to his +soldiers, do not need the supplement given in the Authorised Version. +The king's quick eye had seen a practical path for scaling the cliffs +up some watercourse, where there might be projections or vegetation to +pull oneself up by, or shelter which would hide the assailants from the +defenders; and he bids any one who would smite the Jebusites take that +road up, and, when he is up, 'smite.' He heartens his men for the +assault by his description of the enemy. They had talked about 'blind +and lame'; that is what they really are, or as unable to stand against +the Israelites' fierce and sudden burst as if they were: and +furthermore, they are' hated of David's soul.' It is a flash of the +rage of battle which shows us David in a new light. He was a born +captain as well as king; and here he exhibits the general's power to +see, as by instinct, the weak point and to hurl his men on it. His +swift decision and fiery eloquence stir his men's blood like the sound +of a trumpet. The proverb that rose from the capture is best read as in +the Revised Version: 'There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come +into the house.' The point of it seems to be that, notwithstanding the +bragging Jebusites, he did 'come into the house'; and so its use would +be to ridicule boasting confidence that was falsified by events, as the +Jebusites' had been. It was worth while to record the boast and its +end; for they teach the always seasonable lesson of the folly of over- +confidence in apparently impregnable defences. It is a lesson of +worldly prudence, but still more of religion. There is always some +'watercourse' overlooked by us, up which the enemy may make his way. +Overestimate of our own strength and its companion folly, flippant +underestimate of the enemy's power, are, in all worldly affairs, the +sure precursors of disaster; and in the Christian life the only safe +temper is that of the man who 'feareth always,' as knowing his own +weakness and the strength of his foe, and thereby is driven to that +trust which casts out fear. + +On the other hand, David's exploit reads us anew the lesson that to the +Christian soldier there is nothing impossible, with Jesus Christ for +our Captain. There are many unconquered fortresses of evil still to be +carried by assault, and they look steep and inaccessible enough; but +there is some way up, and He will show it us. For our own personal +struggle with sin, and for the Church's conflict with social evils, +this story is an encouragement and a prophecy. + +Jerusalem was captured by a reunited nation with its king at its head. +As long as our miserable divisions weaken and disgrace us, the Church +fights at a disadvantage; and the hoary fortresses of the foe will not +be won till Judah ceases to vex Ephraim, and Ephraim no more envies +Judah, but all Christ's servants in one host, with the King known by +each to be with them, make the assault. + +III. We have, lastly, the growth of the kingdom. I pass over +topographical questions, which need not concern us here. The points +recorded are David's establishment in the stronghold, his additions to +the city, his increasing greatness and its reason in the presence and +favour of 'the God of hosts,' the special instance of this in the +friendly intercourse with Hiram of Tyre and the employment of Tyrian +workmen, and the recognition of the source and the purpose of his +prosperity by the devout king. We see here the conditions of true +success,--'The Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.' We see also the +right use of it,--'David perceived that the Lord had established him +king.' He was not puffed up into self-importance by his elevation, but +devoutly and clearly saw who had set him in his lofty place. And, as he +traced his royalty to God, so he recognised that he had received it, +not for himself, but as a trust to be used, not in self-indulgence, but +for the national good,--'and that He had exalted his kingdom for His +people Israel's sake.' Whosoever holds firmly by these two thoughts, +and lives them, will adorn his position, whatever it may be, and will +be one of God's crowned kings, however obscure his lot and small his +duties. He who lacks them will misuse his gifts and mar his life, and +the more splendid his endowments and the higher his position, the more +conspicuous will be his ruin and the heavier his guilt. + + + + +DEATH AND LIFE FROM THE ARK + +'Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty +thousand. 2. And David arose, and went with all the people that were +with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, +whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth +between the cherubims. 3. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, +and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and +Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. 4. And they +brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, +accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. 5. And David +and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of +instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on +timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 6. And when they came to +Nachon's thrashing-floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, +and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7. And the anger of the +Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; +and there he died by the ark of God. 8. And David was displeased, +because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name +of the place Perez-uzzah to this day. 9. And David was afraid of the +Lord that day, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? 10. +So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of +David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the +Gittite. 11. And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed- +edom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all +his household. 12. And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath +blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that pertaineth unto him, +because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God +from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.'-2 +SAMUEL vi. 1-12. + + +I. The first section (verses 1-5) describes the joyful reception and +procession. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles states that Baalah, or +Baale, was Kirjath-jearim. Probably the former was the more ancient +Canaanitish name, and indicates that it had been a Baal sanctuary. If +so, the presence of the ark there was at once a symbol and an omen, +showing Jehovah's conquest over the obscene and bloody gods of the +land, and forecasting His triumph over all the gods of the nations. +Every Baale shall one day be a resting-place of the ark of God. The +solemn designation of the ark, as 'called by the Name, the name of the +Lord of Hosts, that dwelleth between the cherubim,' is significant on +this, its reappearance after so long eclipse, and, by emphasising its +awful sanctity, prepares for the incidents which are to follow. The +manner of the ark's transport was irregular; for the law strictly +enjoined its being carried by the Levites by means of bearing-poles +resting on their shoulders; and the copying of the Philistines' cart, +though a new one was made for the purpose, indicates the desuetude into +which the decencies of worship had fallen in seventy years. In 1 +Chronicles, the singular words in verse 5, which describe David as +playing before the Lord on the very unlikely things for such a +purpose,' all manner of instruments of fir wood,' become 'with all +their might: even with songs' which seems much more reasonable. A +slight alteration in three letters and the transposition of two would +bring our text into conformity with I Chronicles, and the conjectural +emendation is tempting. Who ever heard of fir-wood musical instruments? +The specified ones which follow were certainly not made of it, and +songs could scarcely fail to be mentioned. + +At all events, we see the glad procession streaming out of the little +city buried among its woods; the cart drawn by meek oxen, and loaded +with the unadorned wooden chest, in the midst; the two sons or +descendants of its faithful custodian honoured to be the teamsters; the +king with the harp which had cheered him in many a sad hour of exile; +and the crowd 'making a joyful noise before the Lord,' which might +sound discord in our ears, as some lifted up shrill songs, some touched +stringed instruments, some beat on timbrels, some rattled metal rods +with movable rings, and some clashed cymbals together. It was a wild +scene, in which there was a dangerous resemblance to the frantic +jubilations of idolatrous worship. No doubt there were true hearts in +that crowd, and none truer than David's. No doubt we have to beware of +applying our Christian standards to these early times, and must let a +good deal that is sensuous and turbid pass, as, no doubt, God let it +pass. But confession of sin in leaving the ark so long forgotten would +have been better than this tumultuous joy; and if there had been more +trembling in it, it would not have passed so soon into wild terror. +Still, on the other hand, that rejoicing crowd does represent, though +in crude form, the effect which the consciousness of God's presence +should ever have. His felt nearness should be, as the Psalmist says, +'the gladness of my joy.' Much of our modern religion is far too +gloomy, and it is thought to be a sign of devotion and spiritual- +mindedness to be sad and of a mortified countenance. Unquestionably, +Christianity brings men into the continual presence of very solemn +truths about themselves and the world which may well sober them, and +make what the world calls mirth incongruous. + + 'There is no music in the life + That rings with idiot laughter solely.' + +But the Man of Sorrows said that His purpose for us was that 'His joy +might remain in us, and that our joy might be full'; and we but +imperfectly apprehend the gospel if we do not feel that its joys 'much +more abound' than its sorrows, and that they even burn brightest, like +the lights on safety-buoys, when drenched by stormy seas. + +II. The second section contains the dread vindication of the sanctity +of the ark, which changed joy into terror, and silenced the songs. At +some bad place in the rocky and steep track, the oxen stumbled or were +restive. The spot is called in Samuel 'the threshing-floor of Nachon,' +but in Chronicles the owner is named 'Chidon.' As the former word means +'a stroke' and the latter 'destruction,' they are probably not to be +taken as proper names, but as applied to the place after this event. +The name given by David, however--Perez-uzzah--proved the more +permanent 'to this day.' Uzzah, who was driving while his brother went +in front to pilot the way, naturally stretched out his hand to steady +his freight, just as if it had been a sack of corn; and, as if he had +touched an electric wire, fell dead, as the story graphically says, 'by +the ark of God.' What confusion and panic would agitate the joyous +singers, and how their songs would die on their lips! + +What harm was there in Uzzah's action? It was most natural, and, in one +point of view, commendable. Any careful waggoner would have done the +same with any valuable article he had in charge. Yes; that was just the +point of his error and sin, that he saw no difference between the ark +and any other valuable article. His intention to help was right enough; +but there was profound insensibility to the awful sacredness of the +ark, on which even its Levitical bearers were forbidden to lay hands. +All his life Uzzah had been accustomed to its presence. It had been one +of the familiar pieces of furniture in Abinadab's house, and, no doubt, +familiarity had had its usual effect. Do none of us ministers, +teachers, and others, to whom the gospel and the worship and ordinances +of the Church have been familiar from infancy, treat them in the same +fashion? Many a hand is laid on the ark, sometimes to keep it from +falling, with more criminal carelessness of its sacredness than Uzzah +showed. Note, too, how swiftly an irreverent habit of treating holy +things grows. The first error was in breaking the commanded order for +removal of the ark by the Levites. Once in the cart, the rest follows. +The smallest breach in the feeling of awe and reverence will soon lead +to more complete profanation. There is nothing more delicate than the +sense of awe. Trifled with ever so little, it speedily disappears. +There is far too little of it in our modern religion. Perfect love +casts out fear and deepens awe which hath not torment. + +Was not the punishment in excess of the sin? We must remember the +times, the long neglect of the ark, the decay of religion in Saul's +reign, the critical character of the moment as the beginning of a new +era, when it was all-important to print deep the impression of +sanctity, and the rude material which had to be dealt with; and we must +not forget that God, in His punishments, does not adopt men's ideas of +death as such a very dreadful thing. Many since have followed in +David's wake, and been 'displeased, because the Lord broke forth upon +Uzzah'; but he and they have been wrong. He ought to have known better, +and to have understood the lesson of the solemn corpse that lay there +by the ark; instead of which he gives way to mere terror, and was +'afraid of the Lord.' David afraid of the Lord! What had become of the +rapturous love and strong trust which ring clear through his psalms? Is +this the man who called God his rock and fortress and deliverer, his +buckler and the horn of his salvation and his high tower, and poured +out his soul in burning words, which glow yet through all the centuries +and the darkness of earth? It was ill for David to fall thus below +himself, but well for us that the eclipse of his faith and love should +be recorded, to hearten us, when the like emotions fall asleep in our +souls. His consciousness of impurity was wholesome and sound, but his +cowering before the ark, as if it were the seat of arbitrary anger, +which might flame out destruction for no discernible reason, was a +woful darkening of his loving insight into the heart of God. + +III. The last section (verses 10-12) gives us the blessings on the +house of Obed-edom and the glad removal of the ark to Jerusalem. Obed- +edom is called a 'Gittite,' or man of Gath; but he does not appear to +have been a Philistine immigrant, but a native of another Gath, a +Levitical city, and himself a Levite. There is an Obededom in the lists +of David's Levites in Chronicles who is probably the same man. He did +not fear to receive the ark, and, worthily received, the presence which +had been a source of disaster and death to idolaters, to profanely +curious pryers into its secret, and to presumptuous irreverence, became +a fountain of unbroken blessing. This twofold effect of the same +presence is but a symbol of a solemn law which runs through all life, +and is especially manifest in the effects of Christ's work upon men. +Everything has two handles, and it depends on ourselves by which of +them we lay hold of it, and whether we shall receive a shock that +kills, or blessings. The same circumstances of poverty, or wealth, or +sorrow, or temptation, make one man better and another worse. The same +presence of God will be to one man a joy; to another, a terror. 'What +maketh heaven, that maketh hell.' The same gospel received is the +fountain of life, purity, peace; and, rejected or neglected, is the +source of harm and death. Jesus Christ is 'set for the fall and rising +again of many.' Either He is the savour of life unto life, the rock on +which we build, or He is the savour of death unto death, the stone on +which we stumble and break our limbs. + + + + +THE ARK OF THE HOUSE OF OBED-EDOM + +'The ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite +three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.'-2 +SAMUEL vi.11. + + +Nearly seventy years had elapsed since the capture of the ark by the +Philistines on the fatal field of Aphek. They had carried it and set +it in insolent triumph in the Temple of Dagon, as if to proclaim that +the Jehovah of Israel was the conquered prisoner of the Philistine +god. But the morning showed Dagon's stump prone on the threshold. And +so the terrified priests got rid of their dangerous trophy as swiftly +as they could. From one Philistine city to another it passed, and +everywhere its presence was marked by disease and calamity. So at last +they huddled it into some rude cart, leaving the draught-oxen to drag +it whither they would. They made straight for the Judaean hills, and +in the first little village were welcomed by the inhabitants at their +harvest, as they saw them coming across the plain. But again death +attended the Presence, and curiosity, which was profanity, was +punished. So the villagers were as eager to get rid of the ark as they +had been to welcome it, and they passed it on to the little city of +_Kirjath-jearim_,'the city of the woods,' as the name means, or, as we +might say, 'Woodville.' And there it lay, neglected and all but +forgotten, for nearly seventy years. But as soon as David was +established in his newly-won capital he set himself to reorganise the +national worship, which had fallen into neglect and almost into +disuse. The first step was to bring the ark. And so he passed with a +joyful company to _Kirjath._ But again swift death overtakes Uzzah +with his irreverent hand. And David shrinks, in the consciousness of +his impurity, and bestows the symbol of the awful Presence in the +house of Obed-edom. As we have already noted, he was probably not a +Philistine, as the name 'Gittite' at first sight suggests. There is an +Obed-edom in the lists of David's Levites, who was an inhabitant of +another Gath, and himself of the tribe of Levi. + +He was not afraid to receive the ark. There were no idols, no +irreverent curiosity, no rash presumption in his house. He feared and +served the God of the ark, and so the Presence, which had been a source +of disaster to the unworthy, was a source of unbroken blessing to him +and to his household. + +I have been the more particular in this enumeration of the wanderings +of the ark and the opposite effects which its presence produced +according to the manner of its reception, because these effects are +symbols of a great truth which runs all through human life, and is most +especially manifested in the message and the mission of Jesus Christ. + +Let us, then, just trace out two or three of the spheres in which we +may see the application of this great principle, which makes life so +solemn and so awful, which may make it so sad or so glad, so base or so +noble. + +I. First, then, note the twofold operation of all God's outward +dealings. + +Everything that befalls us, every object with which we come in contact, +all the variety of condition, all the variations of our experience, +have one distinct and specific purpose. They are all meant to tell upon +character, to make us better in sundry ways, to bring us closer to God, +and to fill us more full of Him. And that one effect may be produced by +the most opposite incidents, just as in some great machine you may have +two wheels turning in opposite ways, and yet contributing to one +resulting motion; or, just as the summer and the winter, with all their +antitheses, have a single result in the abundant harvest. One force +attracts the planet to the sun, one force tends to drive it out into +the fields of space; but the two, working together, make it circle in +its orbit around its centre. And so, by sorrow and by joy, by light and +by dark, by giving and withholding, by granting and refusing, by all +the varieties of our circumstances, and by everything that lies around +us, God works to prepare us for Himself and to polish His instruments, +sometimes plunging the iron into 'baths of hissing tears,' and +sometimes heating it 'hot with hopes and fears,' and sometimes +'battering' it 'with the shocks of doom,' but all for the one purpose +--that it may be a polished shaft in His quiver. + +And whilst, thus, the most opposite things may produce the same effect, +the same thing will produce opposite effects according to the way in +which we take it. There is nothing that can be relied upon to do a man +only good; there is nothing about which we need fear that its mission +is only to do evil. For all depends on the recipient, who can make +everything to fulfil the purpose for which God has sent him everything. + +Here are two men tried by the same poverty. It beats the one down, +makes him squalid, querulous, faithless, irreligious, drives him to +drink, crushes him; and the other man it steadies and quiets and +hardens, and teaches him to look beyond the things seen and temporal to +the exceeding riches at God's right hand. + +Here are two men tried by wealth; the gold gets into the one man's +veins and makes him yellow as with jaundice, and kills him, destroying +all that is noble, generous, impulsive, quenching his early dreams and +enthusiasms, closing his heart to sweet charity, puffing him up with a +false sense of Importance, and laying upon him the dreadful +responsibility of misused and selfishly employed possessions. And the +other man, tried in the same fashion, out of his wealth makes for +himself friends that welcome him into everlasting habitations, and lays +up for himself treasures in heaven. The one man is damned and the other +man is saved by their use of the same thing. + +Here are two men subjected to the same sorrows; the one is absorbed by +his selfish regard to his own misery, blinded to all the blessings that +still remain, made negligent of tasks and oblivious of the plainest +duty. And he goes about saying, 'Oh, if thou hadst been here!' or if, +if something else had happened, then this would not have happened. And +the other man, passing through the same circumstances, finds that, when +his props are taken away, he flings himself on God's breast, and, when +the world becomes dark and all the paths dim about him, he looks up to +a heaven that fills fuller of meek and swiftly gathering stars as the +night falls, and he says, 'It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him +good.' + +Here are two men tried by the same temptation; it leads the one man +away captive 'with a dart through his liver'; the other man by God's +grace overcomes it, and is the stronger and the sweeter and the gentler +and the humbler because of the dreadful fight. And so you might go the +whole round of diverse circumstances, and about each of them find the +same double result. Nothing is sure to do a man good; nothing +necessarily does him hurt. All depends upon the man himself, and the +use he makes of what God in His mercy sends. Two plants may grow in the +same soil, be fed by the same dews and benediction from the heavens, be +shone upon by the same sunshine, and the one of them will elaborate +from all, sweet juices and fragrance, and the other will elaborate a +deadly poison. So, my brother, life is what you and I will to make it, +and the events which befall us are for our rising or our falling +according as we determine they shall be, and according as we use them. + +Think, then, how solemn, how awful, how great a thing it is to stand +here a free agent, able to determine my character and my condition, +surrounded by all these circumstances and the subject of all these wise +and manifold divine dealings, in each of which there lie dormant, to be +evoked by me, tremendous possibilities of elevation even to the very +presence of God, or of sinking into the depths of separation from Him. +The ark of God, that overthrew Dagon and smote Uzzah, was nothing but a +fountain of blessing in the household of Obed-edom. + +II. Secondly, note the twofold operation of God's character and +presence. + +The ark was the symbol of a present God, and His presence is meant to +be the life and joy of all creatures, and the revelation of Him is +meant to be only for our good, giving strength, righteousness, and +peace. But the same double possibility which I have been pointing out +as inherent in all externals belongs here too, and a man can determine +to which aspect of the many-sided infinitude of the divine nature he +shall stand in relation. The glass in stained windows is so coloured as +that parts of it cut off, and prevent from passing through, different +rays of the pure white light. And men's moral natures, the inclination +of their hearts, and the set of their wills and energies, cut off, if I +may say so, parts of the infinite, white light of the many-sided divine +character, and put them into relations only with some part and aspect +of that great whole which we call God. The man that loves the world, +the man that is living for self, still more the man that is embruted in +the pig-sty of sensuality and vice, cannot see the God whom the pure +heart, which loves Him and is purified by its faith, discerns at the +centre of all things. But the lower man sees either some very far-off +Awfulness, in which he hopes vaguely that there is a kind of good +nature that will let him off; or, if he has been shaken out of that +superficial creed, which is only a creed for men whose consciences have +not been touched, then he can see only a God whose love darkens into +retribution, and who is the Judge and the Avenger. And no man can say +that such a conception is not part of the truth; but, alas! he on whom +the form of such a God glares has incapacitated himself, by his misuse +of his powers and of God's world, from seeing the beauty of the love of +the Father of us all, the righteous Father who in Christ loves every +man. + +And thus the thought of God, the consciousness of His Presence, may be +like the ark which was its symbol, either dreadful and to be put away, +or to be welcomed and blessing to be drawn from it. To many of us I am +sure--though I do not know anything about many of you--that thought,' +Thou God seest me,' breeds feelings like the uneasy discomfort of a +prisoner when he knows that somewhere in the wall there is a spy-hole +at which at any moment a warder's eye may be. And to some of us, +blessed be His name, that same thought, 'Thou art near me,' seems to +bathe the heart in a sea of sweet rest, and to bring the assurance of a +divine Companion that cheers all the solitude. And why is the +difference? There are two people sitting in one pew; to the one man the +thought of God is his ghastliest doubt, to the other it is his deepest +joy. Wherefore? And which is it to me? + +Then, again, this same duality of aspect attaches to the character and +presence of God in another way. Because, according to the variety of +men's characters, God is obliged to treat them as standing in different +relations. He must manifest His judgment, His justice, His punitive +justice. There is a solemn verse in one of the Psalms which I may quote +in lieu of all words of my own of this matter. 'With the merciful Thou +wilt show Thyself merciful, with the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure, +with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.' The present God has +to modify His dealings according to the characters of men. + +And so, dear friends, for the present life, and, as I believe, for the +next life in a far more emphatic and awful way, the same thing makes +blessedness and misery, the same thing makes life and death. The +sunshine will kill and wither the slimy plants that grow in the dark +recesses of some dripping cave; and if you take a fish out of the +water, the air clogs its gills and it dies. Bring a man, such as some +of you are, into a close, constant contact with the consciousness of +the divine righteousness and presence, and you want nothing else to +make a hell. The ark of the Lord will flash out its lightnings and +Uzzah will die. That great Infinite Being, before whom we stand, holds +in His right hand blessings beyond count or price, even the gift of +Himself, and in His left His lightnings and His arrows. On which hand +are you standing? + +III. Lastly, note the twofold operation of God's gospel. + +His dealings, His character and presence, and, most markedly and +eminently of all, the gospel that is treasured in Jesus Christ and +proclaimed amongst us, have this twofold operation. God sent His Son to +be the Saviour of the world. It was meant that His mission and message +should only be for life, and that with ever-increasing abundance. But +God cannot save men by magic, nor by indiscriminate bestowment of +spiritual blessings. It is not in His power to force His salvation upon +any one, and whether the Gospel shall turn out to be a man's salvation +or his ruin depends on the man himself. The preaching of the gospel and +your contact with it, if you have ever come into contact with it really +and not by mere outward hearing, leaves no man as it found him. My poor +words--and God knows how poor I feel them to be--leave none of you as +they find you; and that is what makes our meeting together so solemn +and awful, and sometimes weighs one down as with a sense of +insufficiency for these things. + +That twofold operation is seen first in the permanent effects of the +Gospel upon character. If it has been offered to me, and if I accept +it, then blessings beyond all enumeration, and which none but they who +have them fully know, follow in its wake. Received by simple faith in +Jesus Christ, God's sacrifice for a world's sin, it brings to us the +clear consciousness of pardon, the calm sense of communion, the joyful +spirit of adoption, righteousness rooted in our hearts and to be +manifested day by day in our lives; it brings all elevation and +strengthening and ennobling for the whole nature, and is the one power +that makes us really men as God would have us all to be. + +Rejected or neglected or passed by apparently without our having done +anything in regard to it, what are the issues? What does it do? Well, +it does this for one thing, it turns unconscious worldliness into +conscious worldliness. If the offer has been clearly before your minds, +'Christ or the world?' and you have said 'I take the world!' you know +that you have made the choice, and the act will tell on your character. + +Rejection strengthens all the evil motives for rejection, and adds to +the insensibility of the man who has rejected. The ice on our pavements +in the winter time, that melts on the surface in the day and freezes +again at night, becomes dense and slippery beyond all other. And a +heart, like that which beats in some of our bosoms, that has been +melted and then has frozen again, is harder than ever it was before. +Hammering that does not break solidifies and makes tougher the thing +that is struck. There are no men so hard to get at as men and women, +like multitudes of you, that have been hammered at by preaching ever +since they were children, and have not yielded their hearts to God. The +ark has done you hurt if it has not done you good. + +I do not dwell upon the other solemn thought, of the harmful results of +contact with a gospel which we do not accept, as exemplified in the +increase of responsibility and the consequent increase of condemnation. +I only quote Christ's words, 'The servant that knew his Lord's will, +and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.' + +My brother, Christ's gospel is never inert, one thing or other it does +for every soul that it reaches. Either it softens or it hardens. Either +it saves or it condemns. 'This Child is set for the rise or for the +fall of many.' Jesus Christ may be for me and for you the Rock on which +we build. If He is not, He is the Stone against which we stumble and +break our limbs. Jesus Christ may be for you and for me the Pillar that +gives light by night to those on the one side; He either is that, or He +is the Pillar that sheds darkness and dismay on those on the other. +Jesus Christ and His Gospel may be to each of us 'the savour of life +unto life'; He either is that, or He is 'the savour of death unto +death.' Oh! dear friends, if you have neglected, turned away, delayed +to receive Him or have forgotten impressions in the midst of the whirl +of daily life, do not do so any longer. Take Him for yours, your +Brother, Friend, Sacrifice, Inspirer, Lord, Aim, End, Reward, and very +Heaven of Heaven. Take Him for your own by simple trusting; and say to +Him, 'Arise! O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy strength.' +So He will come into your hearts and smile His gladness as He whispers: +'Here will I dwell for ever; this is My rest, for I have desired it.' + + + + +THE PROMISED KING AND TEMPLE-BUILDER + +'And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto +Nathan, saying, 5. Go and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, +Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in! 6. Whereas I have not +dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of +Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in +a tabernacle. 7. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the +children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, +whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, Why build ye not Me +an house of cedar! 8. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto My servant +David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, +from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel: 9. +And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all +thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like +unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. 10. Moreover I +will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that +they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall +the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, 11. +And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people +Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the +Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house. 12. And when thy +days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up +thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will +establish His kingdom. 13. He shall build an house for My name; and I +will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever. 14. I will be his +father, and He shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten +Him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: +16. But My mercy shall not depart away from Him, as I took it from +Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16. And thine home and thy kingdom +shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be +established for ever.'-2 SAMUEL vii.4-16. + + +The removal of the ark to Jerusalem was but the first step in a process +which was intended to end in the erection of a permanent Temple. The +time for the next step appeared to David to have come when he had no +longer to fight for his throne. Rest from enemies should lead to larger +work for God, else repose will be our worst enemy, and peace will +degenerate into self-indulgent sloth. A devout heart will not be +content with personal comfort and dwelling in a house of cedar, while +the ark has but a tent for its abode. There should be a proportion +between expenditure on self and on religious objects. How many +professing Christians might go to school to David! Luxury at home and +niggardliness in God's work make an ugly pair, but, alas! a common one. + +Nathan approved, as was natural. But he knew the difference between his +own thoughts and 'the word of the Lord' that came to him, and, like a +true man, he went in the morning and contradicted, by God's authority, +his own precipitate sanction of the king's proposal. Clearly, divine +communications were unmistakably distinguishable from the recipient's +own thoughts. + +The divine message first negatives the intention to build a house. In 1 +Chronicles a positive prohibition takes the place of the question in +verse 5, but that is only a difference of form, for the question +implies a negative answer. From David's last words (1 Chron. xxviii. 3) +we learn that a reason for the prohibition was 'because thou art a man +of war, and hast shed blood.' His wars were necessary, and tended to +establish the kingdom, but their existence showed that the time for +building the Temple had not come, and there was a certain incongruity +in a warrior king rearing a house for the God whose kingdom was in its +essence peace. + +The prohibition rests on a deep insight into the nature of Jehovah's +reign, and draws a broad distinction between His worship and the +surrounding paganism. But the reason given in the text is very +remarkable. God did not desire a permanent Temple. If we may so say, He +preferred the less solid Tabernacle, as corresponding better to the +simplicity and spirituality of His worship. A gorgeous stone Temple +might easily become the sepulchre, rather than the shrine, of true +devotion. The movable tent answered to the temporary character of the +'dispensation.' The more fixed and elaborate the externals of worship, +the more danger of the spirit being stifled by them. The Old Testament +worship was necessarily ceremonial, but here is a caveat against the +stiffening of ceremonial into stereotyped formalism. + +The prohibition was accompanied by gracious and far-reaching promises, +designed to assure David of God's approbation of his motive, and to +open up to him the vision of the future and the wonders that should be. +We need say little about the retrospective part of the message (verses +8, 9 a). God had been the agent in all David's past, had lifted him +from the quiet following of his sheep, had given him rule, which was +but a delegated authority. Israel was 'My people,' and therefore he was +but an instrument in God's hand, and was not to govern by his own +fancies or for his own advantage. + +Every devout man's life is the realisation of a plan of God's, and we +sin against ourselves as well as Him if we do not often let thankful +thoughts retrace all the way by which the Lord our God has led us. + +With verse 9 _b_ the prophecy turns to the future. David personally +is promised the continuance of God's help; then a permanent, peaceful +possession of the land is promised to the nation, and finally the +perpetuity of the kingdom in the Davidic line is promised. The prophecy +as to the nation, like all such prophecies, is contingent on national +obedience. The future of the kingdom will stand in blessed contrast +with the wild times of the Judges, if--and only if--Israel behaves as +'My people' should. + +But the main point of the prophecy is the promise to David's 'seed.' In +form it attaches itself very significantly to David's intention to +build a house for Jehovah. That would invert the true order, for +Jehovah was about to build a house, that is, a permanent posterity, for +David. God must first give before man can requite. All our relations to +Him begin with His free mercy to us. And our building for Him should +ever be the result of His building for us, and will, in some humble +way, resemble the divine beneficence by which it has been quickened +into action. The very foundation principles of Christian service are +expressed here, in guise fitted to the then epoch of revelation. + +But the relation of the two things, God's building and Solomon's, is +not exhausted by such considerations. The consolidation of the monarchy +in David's family was an essential preliminary to the rearing of the +Temple. That work needed tranquil times, abundant resources, leisure, +and assured dominion. So the prophet goes on to promise that David +shall be succeeded by his 'seed,' who shall build the Temple. + +Further, three great promises are given in reference to David's seed,-- +a perpetual kingdom, a personal relation of sonship to Jehovah, and +paternal chastisement, if necessary, but no such departure of Jehovah's +mercy as had darkened the close of Saul's sad reign. Then, finally, the +assurance is reiterated of the perpetuity of David's house and throne. +The remarkable expression in verse 16, 'established before thee' (that +is, David), if it is the true reading, suggests a hint of the life +after death, and conceives of the long-dead king as in some manner +cognisant of the fortunes of his descendants. But the Septuagint reads +'before Me,' and that reading is confirmed by verses 26 and 29, and by +Psalm lxxxix.36 _b_. + +Now it is clear that these promises were in part directed to, and +fulfilled in, Solomon. But it is as clear that the great promise of an +eternal dominion, which is emphatically repeated thrice, goes far +beyond him. We are obliged to recognise a second meaning in the +prophecy, in accordance with Old Testament usage, which often means by +'seed' a line of successive generations of descendants. But no +succession of mortal men can reach to eternal duration. + +Apart from the fact that the kingdom, in the form in which David's +descendants ruled over it, has long since crumbled away, the large +words of the promise must be regarded as inflated and exaggerated, if +by 'for ever' is only meant 'for long generations.' A 'seed,' or line +of perishable men, can only last for ever if it closes in a Person who +is not subject to the law of mortality. Unless we can with our hearts +rejoicingly confess, 'Thou art the King of glory, O Christ! Thy kingdom +is an everlasting kingdom,' we do not pierce to the full understanding +of Nathan's prophecy. + +All the glorious prerogatives shadowed in it were but partially +fulfilled in Israel's monarchs. Their failures and their successes, +their sins and their virtues, equally declared them to be but shadowy +forerunners of Him in whom all that they at the best imperfectly aimed +at and possessed is completely and for ever fulfilled. They were +prophetic persons by their office, and pointed on to Him. + +He has built the true Temple, in that His body is the seat of sacrifice +and of revelation, and the meeting-place of God and man, and inasmuch +as through Him we are built up into a spiritual house for an habitation +of God. In Him is fulfilled the great prophecy of 'My Servant the +Branch,' who 'shall build the Temple of the Lord' and 'be a Priest upon +His throne.' In Him, too, is fulfilled in highest truth the filial +relationship. The Israelitish kings were by office sons of God. He is +_the_ Son in ineffable derivation and eternal unity of life with +the Father, and their communion is in closest oneness of will and +mutual interchange of love. In that filial relation lies the assurance +of Christ's everlasting kingdom, for 'the Father loveth the Son, and +hath given all things into His hand.' + +The prophecy is echoed in many places of Scripture, and is ever taken +to refer to a single person. The angel of the annunciation moulded his +salutation to the meek Virgin on it, when he declared that her Son +'shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give +unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the +house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.' + + + + +DAVID'S GRATITUDE + +'Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am +I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me +hitherto? 19. And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord God; +but Thou hast spoken also of Thy servant's house for a great while to +come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? 20. And what can David +say more unto Thee? for Thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant. 21. For +Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all +these great things, to make Thy servant know them. 22. Wherefore Thou +art great, O Lord God: for there is none like Thee, neither is there +any God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our +ears. 23. And what one nation in the earth is like Thy people, even +like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to +make Him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for Thy +land, before Thy people, which Thou redeemedst to Thee from Egypt, from +the nations and their gods? 24. For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy +people Israel to be a people unto Thee for ever: and Thou, Lord, art +become their God. 25. And now, O Lord God, the word that Thou hast +spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it +for ever, and do as Thou hast said. 26. And let Thy name be magnified +for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel; and let the +house of Thy servant David be established before Thee. 27. For Thou, O +Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to Thy servant, saying, I +will build thee an house: therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart +to pray this prayer unto Thee. 28. And now, O Lord God, Thou art that +God, and Thy words be true, and Thou hast promised this goodness unto +Thy servant: 29. Therefore now let it please Thee to bless the house of +Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee: for Thou, O +Lord God, hast spoken it: and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy +servant be blessed for ever.'--2 SAMUEL vii. 18-29. + + +God's promise by Nathan of the perpetuity of the kingdom in David's +house made an era in the progress of revelation. A new element was +thereby added to devout hope, and a new object presented to faith. The +prophecy of the Messiah entered upon a new stage, bearing a relation, +as its successive stages always did, to the history which supplies a +framework for it. Now, for the first time, He can be set forth as the +king of Israel; now the width of the promise, which at first embraced +the seed of the woman, and then was limited to the seed of Abraham, and +thereafter to the tribe of Judah, is still further limited to the house +of David. The beam is narrowed as it is focussed into greater +brilliance, and the personal Messiah begins to be faintly discerned in +words which are to have a partial, preparatory fulfilment, in itself +prophetic, in the collective Davidic monarchs whose office is itself a +prophecy. This passage is the wonderful burst of praise which sprang +from David's heart in answer to Nathan's words. In many of the Psalms +later than this prophecy we find clear traces of that expectation of +the personal Messiah, which gradually shaped itself, under divine +inspiration, in David, as contained in Nathan's message But this +thanksgiving prayer, which was the immediate reflection of the +astounding new message, has not yet penetrated its depth nor discovered +its rich contents, but sees in it only the promise of the continuance +of kingship in his descendants. We do not learn the fulness of God's +gracious promises on first hearing them. Life and experience and the +teaching of His Spirit are needed to enable us to count our treasure, +and we are richer than we know. + +This prayer is a prose psalm outside the Psalter. It consists of two +parts,--a burst of astonished thanksgiving and a stream of earnest +petition, grasping the divine promise and turning it into a prayer. + +I. Note the burst of thanksgiving (vs. 18-24). The ark dwelt 'in +curtains,' and into the temporary sanctuary went the king with his full +heart. The somewhat peculiar attitude of sitting, while he poured it +out to God, has offended some punctilious commentators, who will have +it that we should translate 'remained,' and not 'sat'; but there is no +need for the change. The decencies of public worship may require a +posture which expresses devotion; but individual communion is free from +such externals, and absorbed contemplation naturally disposes of the +body so as least to hinder the spirit. The tone of almost bewildered +surprise at the greatness of the gift is strong all through the prayer. +The man's breath is almost taken away, and his words are sometimes +broken, and throughout palpitating with emotion. Yet there is a plain +progress of feeling and thought in them, and they may serve as a +pattern of thanksgiving. Note the abrupt beginning, as if pent-up +feeling forced its way, regardless of forms of devotion. The first +emotion excited by God's great goodness is the sense of unworthiness. +'I do not deserve it,' is the instinctive answer of the heart to any +lavish human kindness, and how much more to God's! 'I am not worthy of +the least of all the mercies,' springs to the devout lips most swiftly, +when gazing on His miracles of bestowing love. He must know little of +himself, and less of God, who is not most surely melted down to +contrition, which has no bitterness or pain in it, by the coals of +loving fire heaped by God on his head. + +The consciousness of unworthiness passes, in verse 19, to adoring +contemplation of God's astounding mercy, and especially of the new +element in Nathan's prophecy,--the perpetuity of the Davidic +sovereignty in the dim, far-off future. Thankfulness delights to praise +the Giver for the greatness of His gift. Faith strengthens its hold of +its blessings by telling them over, as a miser does his treasure. To +recount them to God is the way to possess them more fully. + +The difficult close of the verse cannot be discussed here. 'The law for +man' is nearer the literal meaning of the words than 'the manner of +men' (Rev. Ver.); and, unfortunately, man's manner is not the same as +man's law. But the usual explanations are unsatisfactory. We would +hazard the suggestion that 'this' means that which God has spoken 'of +thy servant's house,' and that to call it 'the law for man' is +equivalent to an expression of absolute confidence in the authority, +universality, and certain fulfilment of the promise. The speech of God +is ever the law for man, and this new utterance stands on a level with +the older law, and shall rule all mankind. The king's faith not only +gazes on the great words of promise, but sees them triumphant on earth. + +Then in verse 20 comes another bend of the stream of praise. The more +full the heart, the more is it conscious of the weakness of all words. +The deepest praise, like the truest love, speaks best in silence. It is +blessed when, in earthly relations, we can trust our dear ones' +knowledge of us to interpret our poor words. It is more blessed when, +in our speech to God, we can feel that our love and faith are deeper +than our word, and that He does not judge them by it, but it by them. + + 'Silence is His least injurious praise.' + +Here, too, we may note the two instances, in this verse, of what runs +through the whole prayer,--David's avoidance of using 'I.' Except in +the lowly 'What am I?' at the beginning, it never occurs; but he calls +himself 'David' twice and 'Thy servant' ten times,--a striking, because +unconscious, proof of his lowly sense of unworthiness. + +But he can say more; and what he does further say goes yet deeper than +his former words. The personal aspect of the promise retreats into the +background, and the ground of all God's mercy in His 'own heart' fills +the thoughts. Some previous promise, perhaps that through Samuel, is +referred to; but the great truth that God is His own motive, and that +His love is not drawn forth by our deserts, but wells up by its own +energy, like a perennial fountain, is the main thought of the verse. +God is self-moved to bless, and He blesses that we may know Him through +His gifts. The one thought is the central truth, level to our +apprehension, concerning His nature; the other is the key to the +meaning of all His workings. All comes to pass because He loves with a +self-originated love, and in order that we may know the motive and +principle of His acts. We can get no farther into the secret of God +than that. We need nothing more for peaceful acceptance of His +providences for ourselves and our brethren. All is from love; all is +for the manifestation of love. He who has learned these truths sits at +the centre and lives in light. + +Verse 22 strikes a new note. The effect of God's dealing with David is +to magnify His name, to teach His incomparable greatness, and to +confirm by experience ancient words which celebrate it. The thankful +heart rejoices in hearsay being changed into personal knowledge. 'As we +have heard, so have we seen.' Old truths flash up into new meaning, and +only he who tastes and sees that God is good to him to-day really +enters into the sweetness of His recorded past goodness. + +Note the widening of David's horizon in verses 23 and 24 to embrace all +Israel. His blessings are theirs. He feels his own relation to them as +the culmination of the long series of past deliverances, and at the +same time loses self in joy over Israel's confirmation as God's people +by his kingship. True thankfulness regards personal blessings in their +bearing on others, and shrinks from selfish use of them. Note, too, the +parallel, if we may call it so, between Israel and Israel's God, in +that 'there is none like Thee,' and by reason of its choice by this +incomparable Jehovah, no nation on earth is like 'Thy people, even like +Israel.' + +Thus steadily does this model of thanksgiving climb up from a sense of +unworthiness, through adoration and gazing on its treasures, to God's +unmotived love as His impulse, and men's knowledge of that love as His +aim, and pauses at last, rapt and hushed, before the solitary loftiness +of the incomparable God, and the mystery of the love, which has +intertwined the personal blessings which it celebrates, with its great +designs for the welfare of the people, whose unique position +corresponds to the unapproachable elevation of its God. + +II. Verses 25 to 29 are prayer built on promise and winged by +thankfulness. The whole of these verses are but the expansion of 'do as +Thou hast said.' But they are not vain repetitions. Rather they are the +outpourings of wondering thankfulness and faith, that cannot turn away +from dwelling on the miracle of mercy revealed to it unworthy. God +delights in the sweet monotony and persistence of such reiterated +prayers, each of which represents a fresh throb of desire and a renewed +bliss in thinking of His goodness. Observe the frequency and variety of +the divine names in these verses,--in each, one, at least: Jehovah God +(v. 25); Jehovah of hosts (v. 26); Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel (v. +27); Lord Jehovah (vs. 28, 29). Strong love delights to speak the +beloved name. Each fresh utterance of it is a fresh appeal to His +revealed nature, and betokens another wave of blessedness passing over +David's spirit as he thinks of God. Observe, also, the other repetition +of 'Thy servant,' which occurs in every verse, and twice in two of +them. The king is never tired of realising his absolute subjection, and +feels that it is dignity, and a blessed bond with God, that he should +be His servant. The true purpose of honour and office bestowed by God +is the service of God, and the name of 'servant' is a plea with Him +which He cannot but regard. Observe, too, how echoes of the promise +ring all through these verses, especially the phrases 'establish the +house' and 'for ever.' They show how profoundly David had been moved, +and how he is labouring, as it were, to make himself familiar with the +astonishing vista that has begun to open before his believing eyes. +Well is it for us if we, in like manner, seek to fix our thoughts on +the yet grander 'for ever' disclosed to us, and if it colours all our +look ahead, and makes the refrain of all our hopes and prayers. + +But the main lesson of the prayer is that God's promise should ever be +the basis and measure of prayer. The mould into which our petitions +should run is, 'Do as Thou hast said.' Because God's promise had come +to David, 'therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart to pray this +prayer unto Thee.' There is no presumption in taking God at His word. +True prayer catches up the promises that have fallen from heaven, and +sends them back again, as feathers to the arrows of its petitions. Nor +does the promise make the prayer needless. We know that 'if we ask +anything according to His will, He heareth us'; and we know that we +shall not receive the promised blessings, which are according to His +will, unless we do ask. Let us seek to stretch our desires to the width +of God's promises, and to confine our wishes within their bounds. + + + + +DAVID AND JONATHAN'S SON + +'And David said, is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, +that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 2. And there was of +the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had +called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he +said, Thy servant is he. 3. And the king said, Is there not yet any of +the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And +Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his +feet. 4. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto +the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in +Lo-debar. 5. Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of +Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar., 6. Now when Mephibosheth, +the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on +his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he +answered, Behold thy servant! 7. And David said unto him. Fear not; for +I will surely shew then kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and +will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father: and thou shalt eat +bread at my table continually. 8. And he bowed himself, and said, What +is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? +9. Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I +hare given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all +his house. 10. Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall +till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy +master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son +shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty +servants. 11. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my +lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As +for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of +the king's sons. 12. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was +Micha: and all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto +Mephibosheth. 13. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat +continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.'--2 +SAMUEL ix.1-13. + + +This charming idyl of faithful love to a dead friend and generous +kindness comes in amid stories of battle like a green oasis in a +wilderness of wild rocks and sand. The natural sweetness and chivalry +of David's disposition, which fascinated all who had to do with him, +comes beautifully out in it, and it may well stand as an object lesson +of the great Christian duty of practical mercifulness. + +I. So regarded, the narrative brings out first the motives of true +kindliness. Saul and three of his four sons had fallen on the fatal +field of Gilboa; the fourth, the weak Ishbosheth, had been murdered +after his abortive attempt at setting up a rival kingdom had come to +nothing. There were only left Saul's daughters and some sons by a +concubine. So low had the proud house sunk, while David was +consolidating his kingdom, and gaining victory wherever he went. + +But neither his own prosperity, nor the absence of any trace of Saul's +legitimate male descendants, made him forget his ancient oath to +Jonathan. Years had not weakened his love, his sufferings at Saul's +hands had not embittered it. His elevation had not lifted him too high +to see the old days of lowliness, and the dear memory of the self- +forgetting friend whose love had once been an honour to the shepherd +lad. Jonathan's name had been written on his heart when it was +impressionable, and the lettering was as if 'graven on the rock for +ever.' A heart so faithful to its old love needed no prompting either +from men or circumstances. Hence the inquiry after 'any that is left of +the house of Saul' was occasioned by nothing external, but came welling +up from the depth of the king's own soul. + +That is the highest type of kindliness which is spontaneous and self- +motived. It is well to be easily moved to beneficence either by the +sight of need or by the appeals of others, but it is best to kindle our +own fire, and be our own impulse to gracious thoughts and acts. We may +humbly say that human mercy then shows likest God's, when, in such +imitation as is possible, it springs in us, as His does in Him, from +the depths of our own being. He loves and is kind because He is God. He +is His own motive and law. So, in our measure, should we aim at +becoming. + +But David's remarkable language in his questions to Ziba goes still +deeper in unfolding his motives. For he speaks of showing 'the kindness +of God' to any remaining of Saul's house. Now that expression is no +mere synonym for kindness exceeding great, but it unfolds what was at +once David's deepest motive and his bright ideal. No doubt, it may +include a reminiscence of the sacred obligation of the oath to +Jonathan, but it hallows David's purposed 'mercy' as the echo of God's +to him, and so anticipates the Christian teaching, 'Be ye merciful, +even as your Father is merciful.' We must receive mercy from Him before +our hearts are softened, so as to give it to others, just as the wire +must be charged from the electric source before it can communicate the +tingle and the light. + +The best basis for the beneficent service of man is experience of the +mercy of God. Philanthropy has no roots unless it is planted in +religion. That is a lesson which this age needs. And the other side of +the thought is as true and needful; namely, that our 'religion' is not +'pure and undefiled' unless it manifests itself in the service of man. +How serene and lofty, then, the ideal! How impossible ever to be too +forgiving or too beneficent! 'As your heavenly Father is,'--that is our +pattern. We have not shown our brother all the kindness which we owe +him unless we have shown him 'the kindness of God.' + +II. The progress of the story brings out next the characteristics of +David's kindliness, and these may be patterns for us. Ziba does not +seem to be very communicative, and appears a rather unwilling witness, +who needs to have the truth extracted bit by bit. He evidently had +nothing to do with Mephibosheth, and was quite content that he should +be left obscurely stowed away across Jordan in the house of the rich +Machir (2 Sam. xvii. 27-29). Lo-debar was near Mahanaim, on the eastern +side of the river, where Ishbosheth's short-lived kingdom had been +planted, and probably the population there still clung to Saul's +solitary representative. There he lived so privately that none of +David's people knew whether he was alive or dead. Perhaps the savage +practice of Eastern monarchs, who are wont to get rid of rivals by +killing them, led the cripple son of Jonathan to 'lie low,' and Ziba's +reticence may have been loyalty to him. It is noteworthy that Ziba is +not said to have been sent to bring him, though that would have been +natural. + +At any rate, Mephibosheth came, apparently dreading whether his summons +to court was not his death-warrant. But he is quickly reassured. David +again recalls the dear memory of Jonathan, which was, no doubt, stirred +to deeper tenderness by the sight of his helpless son; but he swiftly +passes to practical arrangements, full of common-sense and grasp of the +case. The restoration of Saul's landed estate implies that it was in +David's power. It had probably been 'forfeited to the crown,' as we in +England say, or perhaps had been 'squatted on' by people who had no +right to it. David, at any rate, will see that it reverts to its owner. + +But what is a lame man to do with it? and will it be wise to let a +representative of the former dynasty loose in the territory of +Benjamin, where Saul's memory was still cherished? Apparently, David's +disposition of affairs was prompted partly by consideration for +Mephibosheth, partly by affection for Jonathan, and partly by policy. +So Ziba, who had not been present, is sent for, and installed as +overseer of the estate, to work it for his new master's benefit, while +the owner is to remain at Jerusalem in David's establishment. It was +prudent to keep Mephibosheth at hand. The best way to weaken a +pretender's claims was to make a pensioner of him, and the best way to +hinder his doing mischief was to keep him in sight. + + +But we need not suppose that this was David's only motive. He gratified +his heart by retaining the poor young man beside himself, and, no +doubt, sought to win his confidence and love. The recipient of his +kindness receives it in characteristic Eastern fashion, with +exaggerated words of self-depreciation, which sound almost too humble +to be quite sincere. A little gratitude is better than whining +professions of un worthiness. + +And how did Ziba like his task? The singular remark that he had +'fifteen sons and twenty servants' perhaps suggests that he was a +person of some importance; and the subsequent one that 'all in his +house were servants to Mephibosheth' may imply that neither they nor he +quite liked their being handed over thus cavalierly. + +But, however that may be, we may note that common-sense and practical +sagacity should guide our mercifulness. Kindly impulses are good, but +they need cool heads to direct them, or they do more harm than good. It +is useless to set lame men to work an estate, even if they get a gift +of it. And it is wise not to put untried ones in positions where they +may plot against their benefactor. Mercifulness does not mean rash +trust in its objects. They will often have to be watched very closely +to keep them from going wrong. How many most charitable impulses have +been so unwisely worked out that they have injured their objects and +disappointed their subjects! We may note, too, in David's kindliness, +that it was prompt to make sacrifice, if, as is probable, he had become +owner of the estate. The pattern of all mercy, who is God, has not +loved us with a love which cost Him nothing. Sacrifice is the life- +blood of service. + +III. The subsequent history of Mephibosheth and Ziba is somewhat +enigmatical. Usually the former is supposed to have been slandered by +the latter, and to have been truly attached to David. But it is at +least questionable whether Ziba was such a villain, and Mephibosheth +such an injured innocent, as is supposed. This, at least, is plain, +that Ziba demonstrated attachment to David at the time when self-love +would have kept him silent. It took some courage to come with gifts to +a discrowned king (2 Sam. xvi. 1-4); and his allegation about his +master has at least this support, that the latter did not come with the +rest of David's court to share his fortunes, and that the dream that he +might fish to advantage in troubled waters is extremely likely to have +occurred to him. Nor does it appear clear that, if Ziba's motive was to +get hold of the estate, his adherence to David would have seemed, at +that moment, the best way of effecting it. + +If we look at the sequel (xix. 24-30) Mephibosheth's excuse for not +joining David seems almost as lame as himself. He says that Ziba +'deceived him,' and did not bring him the ass for riding on, and +therefore he could not come. Was there only one ass available in +Jerusalem? and, when all David's _entourage_ were streaming out to +Olivet after him, could not he easily have got there too if he had +wished? His demonstration of mourning looks very like a blind, and his +language to David has a disagreeable ring of untruthfulness, in its +extreme professions of humility and loyalty. 'Me thinks the +_cripple_ doth protest too much. David evidently did not feel sure +about him, and stopped his voluble utterances somewhat brusquely: 'Why +speakest thou any more of thy matters?' That is as much as to say, +'Hold your tongue.' And the final disposition of the property, while it +gives Mephibosheth the benefit of the doubt, yet looks as if there was +a considerable doubt in the king's mind. + +We may take up the same somewhat doubting position. If he requited +David's kindness thus unworthily, is it not the too common experience +that one way of making enemies is to load with benefits? But no cynical +wisdom of that sort should interfere with our showing mercy; and if we +are to take 'the kindness of God' for our pattern, we must let our +sunshine and rain fall, as His do, on 'the unthankful and the evil.' + + + + + +'MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM' + +'And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the +entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and +Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. 9. When Joab saw +that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he +chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against +the Syrians: 10. And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand +of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the +children of Ammon. 11. And he said, if the Syrians be too strong for +me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong +for thee, then I will come and help thee. 12. Be of good courage, and +let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and +the Lord do that which seemeth Him good. 13. And Joab drew nigh, and +the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and +they fled before him. 14. And when the children of Ammon saw that the +Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into +the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to +Jerusalem. 15. And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before +Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16. And Hadarezer sent, and +brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river: and they came to +Helam: and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before +them. 17. And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, +and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set +themselves in array against David, and fought with him. 18. And the +Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred +chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach +the captain of their host, who died there. 19. And when all the kings +that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before +Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians +feared to help the children of Ammon any more.'--2 SAMUEL x. 8-19. + + +David's growing power would naturally be regarded by neighbouring +states as a menace. Success provokes envy, and in this selfish world +strength usually encroaches on weakness, and weakness dreads strength. +So it was quite according to the way of the world that David's friendly +embassy to the king of Ammon should be suspected of covering hostile +intentions. Those who have no kindness in their own hearts are slow to +believe in kindness in others. 'What does he want to get by it?' is the +question put by cynical 'shrewd men,' when they see a good man doing a +gracious, self-forgetting act. + +But the Ammonite courtiers need not have rejected David's overtures so +insolently as by shaving half his ambassadors' beards and docking their +robes. The insult meant war to the knife. Probably it was deliberately +intended as a declaration of hostilities, as it was immediately +followed by the preparation of a formidable coalition against Israel. +Possibly, indeed, the coalition preceded and occasioned the rejection +of David's conciliatory message. But, in any case, the Ammonite king +summoned his Syrian allies from a number of small states of which we +barely know the names, the chief of which was Zobah. + +That state had apparently started into prominence under its king Hadar- +ezer, as he is called in this chapter, which is obviously a clerical +error for Hadad-ezer, as in 2 Samuel viii. 3, etc. The name Hadad +occurs again in Ben-hadad, and belonged to a Syrian god; so that the +king of Zobah's name, meaning 'Hadad [is] help,' may be taken as the +banner flaunted in the face of the army of Israel, and as making the +war a struggle of the false against the true God. + +The war with the same enemies narrated in 2 Samuel viii. 3-13 is now +generally supposed to be the same as that recorded in the latter part +of this passage. It certainly seems more probable that there has been +some dislocation of the text, than that so crushing a defeat as that +retold in chapter viii. should have been followed by a revival of the +same coalition within a short time. If, however, there was such a +revival, it may remind us of the conditions of all warfare for God and +goodness, either in our own lives or in the world. Sins and vicious +institutions, once defeated, have a terrible power of swift recovery. +The thorns cut down sprout fast again. Let no man say, 'I have +extirpated that sin from my nature,' for, if he does, it will surprise +him when he is lulled in false security. Hadad-ezer is not so easily +got rid of. He does not know when he is beaten. + +David took the bull by the horns, and did not wait to be attacked. It +was good policy to carry the war into the enemies' country, as it +generally is. God's soldiers have to be aggressive, and there is no +better way of losing what they have won than by being contented with +it. We must advance if we are not to retrograde. From I Chronicles we +learn that the Ammonites had begun the campaign by besieging Medeba, a +trans-Jordanic Israelitish city. The answer of Joab was to lay siege to +Rabbath, the capital of Ammon, an almost impregnable fastness, perched +on a cliff, and surrounded on all sides but one by steep ravines. + +Apparently his bold strategy led to the abandonment of the attack on +Medeba, and to the hurried march of its besiegers to relieve Rabbath. +Probably the Syrian allies had been before Medeba, and suddenly +appeared in Joab's rear. Their advance led the besieged to attempt a +sortie, so that Joab was between two fires. It was a difficult +position. Whichever foe he attacked, his retreat was cut off, and +another enemy was ready to hurl itself on his rear. There was no time +for manoeuvring, and nothing for it but to face both assailants. So, +without hesitation he made his dispositions. The new-comers, the +Syrians, were evidently the more formidable, and Joab picked the best +men to deal with them under his own command, while his brother Abishai +was to give account of the Ammonites, who were pouring out of Rabbath. +There is sometimes advantage in being 'Mr. Facing-both-ways.' We are +often surrounded by allied evils or sins; for all our vices are +kindred, and help each other, and all public or social iniquities are +in league against the army of righteousness. We have to be many-sided +in our attacks on what is wrong, as well as in our development of what +is right. + +Danger woke the best in Joab, Fierce and truculent as he often was, he +had a hero's mettle in him, and in that dark hour he flamed like a +pillar of light. His ringing words to his brother as they parted, not +knowing if they would ever meet again, are like a clarion call. They +extract encouragement out of the separation of forces, which might have +depressed, and cheerily pledge the two divisions to mutual help. What +was to happen, Joab, if the Syrians were too strong for thee, and the +Ammonites for Abishai? That very possible contingency is not +contemplated in his words. Rash confidence is unwise, but God's +soldiers have a right to go into battle not anticipating utter defeat. +Such expectation is apt to fulfil itself, and, on the other hand, to +believe that we shall conquer goes a long way towards making us +conquerors. + +Does not Joab's pledge of mutual help carry in it a lesson applicable +to all the divisions of God's great army? In the presence of the +coalition of evil, is not the separation of the friends of good, +madness? When bad men unite, should not good men hold together? The +defeat or victory of one is the defeat or victory of all. We serve +under the same banner, and, instead of shutting up our sympathies +within the narrow limits of our own regiment, and even having a certain +satisfaction at the difficulties into which another has got, we should +feel that, if 'one member suffer, all the members suffer with it,' and +should be ready to help all our fellow-soldiers who need help. Self- +preservation as well as comradeship, and, above all, loyalty to Him for +whom we fight, should lead to that; for, if Abishai is crushed, Joab +will be in sorer peril. + +His other word is equally pregnant. 'Be of good courage' is an +exhortation always in season for Christ's soldiers, for, whatever are +their foes, 'He that is with them is more than they that are with' +their enemies. One man with Christ to back him may always be sure of +victory. Calculations of probabilities and of resources may often yield +occasion for despondency if we calculate only what appears to sense, +but if we bring Christ into the calculation we shall be of good cheer. +'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?' + +We may note, too, the stimulating motive drawn from the thought of what +Israel's army fought for,--'Our people, and the cities of our God.' +Patriotism and devotion coalesced, and, like two contiguous flames in +some duplex lamp, each made the other burn the brighter. So we may feel +that we have the highest good of 'our people,' our brethren, in view, +and that, in helping them and warring against evil, we are fighting for +what belongs to God. + +High courage, the effort to do their very best, and not to spare blood +or life in the fight, blended nobly in Joab and his brother with +recognition of God's supreme determination of the event. Nothing can +stand before men who live and fight in such a temper as that. The early +conquests of Mohammedanism were secured by just such a blending of +courage and submission. These were vulgar and poor, compared with the +victories that would attend a Church which was animated by these +principles in the higher form in which Christianity presents them. + +The account of the victory is remarkable. It is surely not by accident +that no word is said about fighting. Note that it was as Joab 'drew +nigh unto the battle' that the Syrians fled as if in sudden panic, and +infected the Ammonites with their terror. We hear nothing of men slain, +or of any actual crossing of swords. Contrast verse 18, which tells of +a real fight. It is, perhaps, not pressing omissions too far to suggest +that the narrative favours the supposition of a bloodless victory. The +dangers that often appal Christ's servants have a way of often +disappearing when they are marched boldly up to. Like ghosts, they +vanish when accosted. + +So ended one campaign. But Hadad-ezer, the soul of the coalition, was +not crushed, and the latter part of the passage tells of his renewed +attempt. Partial defeat stirs up our foes to stronger struggles. The +league was extended to include Syrian states farther east, and a still +more formidable expedition was fitted out to attack this dangerous +upstart king of Israel, who was casting his shadow so far. Such is +always the case. We are never in more danger of fresh assailants than +when we have won some victory over evil in ourselves or around us. +David repeated his former tactics. Not waiting to be attacked, and to +have the soil of Israel profaned and wasted by enemies, he crossed +Jordan to meet the would-be invader, and, when he met him, struck hard, +and crushed him and his host, slew the commander, and dispersed the +thunder-cloud. The coalition broke down. Hadad-ezer's tributaries were +glad to shake off his yoke and transfer their allegiance to David. + +'Nothing succeeds like success.' The alliances between worldly men +banded against God's soldiers are held together by self-interest, and, +when that can be best secured by deserting a man when he is down, away +go all the allies, tumbling over each other in their haste to be the +first to desert and bring feigned submission to the conqueror. The +jackals leave the sick lion. The Syrians had had enough of helping +Ammon, and Rabbath might fall without their lifting a finger. So hollow +are the world's coalitions against God and His anointed! + + + + +THOU ART THE MAN + +'And David said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done +this thing shall surely die; because he did this thing, and because he +had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.'--2 SAMUEL +xii. 5-7. + + +Nathan's apologue, so tenderly beautiful, takes the poet-king on the +most susceptible side of his character. All his history shows him as a +man of wonderfully sweet, chivalrous, generous, swiftly compassionate +nature. And so, when he hears the story of a mean, heartless +selfishness, all that is best in him kindles into a generous +indignation, and flames out into instinctive condemnation. 'The man +that did this thing shall die because he had no pity.' + +And then, on to that hot fervour of righteous wrath, comes this dash of +cold water, 'And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.' Like some +keen spear-point, sharpened almost to invisibility, this short sentence +(two words in the original) driven by a strong hand, goes right through +the armour to the very heart. What a collapse there would be in the +king when the pointed forefinger of the prophet emphasised and drove +home the application! + +I. This dramatic scene before us may be taken as suggesting first that +we are all strangely blind to our own faults. + +If a man's own sin is held up before him a little disguised, he says, +'How ugly it is!' And if only for a moment he can be persuaded that it +is not his own conduct but some other sinner's that he is judging, the +instinctive condemnation comes. We have two sets of names for vices: +one set which rather mitigates and excuses them, and another set which +puts them in their real hideousness. We keep the palliative set for +home consumption, and liberally distribute the plain-spoken, ugly set +amongst the vices and faults of our friends. The same thing which I +call in myself prudence I call in you meanness. The same thing which +you call in yourselves generous living, you call in your friend filthy +sensualism. That which, to the doer of it, is only righteous +indignation, to the onlooker is passionate anger. That which, in the +practiser of it, is no more than a due regard for the interests of his +own family and himself in the future, is, to the envious lookers-on, +shabbiness and meanness in money matters. That which, to the liar, is +only prudent diplomatic reticence, to the listener is falsehood. That +which, in the man that judges his own conduct, is but 'a choleric +word,' is, in his friend, when he judges him, 'flat blasphemy.' + +And so we go all round the circle, and condemn our own vices, when we +see them in other people. So the king who had never thought, when he +stole away Uriah's one ewe lamb, and did him to death by traitorous +commands, setting him in the front of the battle, that he was wanting +in compassion, blazes up at once, and righteously sentences the other +'man' to death, 'because he had no pity.' He had never thought of +himself or of his crime as cruel, as mean, as selfish, as heartless. +But when he sees a partially disguised picture of it he knows it for +the devil's child that it is. + + 'O wad some Power the giftie gie us + To see oursels as ithers see us! + It wad frae mony a blunder free us,' + +and so it would, to see ourselves as we see others. We judge our +brother and ourselves by two different standards. + +And that is only one phase of a more general principle, one case that +comes under a yet wider law, viz. that we are all blind, strangely +blind, to our own faults. Why that is so I do not need to spend time in +inquiring, except for a distinctly practical purpose. Let me just +remind you how a strong wish for a thing that seems desirable always +tends to confuse to a man the plain distinction between right and +wrong; and how passions once excited, or the animal lusts and desires +once kindled in a man, go straight to their object without the smallest +regard to whether that object is to be reached by the breach of all +laws, human and divine, or not. Excite any passion, and the passion is +but a blind propensity towards certain good, and takes no question or +consideration of whether right or wrong is involved at all. + +And further, habit familiarises with evil and diminishes our sense of +it as evil. A man that has been for half a day in some ill-ventilated +room does not notice the poisonous atmosphere; if you go into it you +are half suffocated at first, and breathe more easily as you get used +to it. A man can live amidst the foulest poison of evil; and, as the +Styrian peasants get fat upon arsenic, his whole nature may seem to +thrive by the poison that it absorbs. They tell us that the breed of +fish that live in the lightless caverns in the bowels of some +mountains, by long disuse have had their eyes atrophied out of them, +and are blind because they have lived out of the light. And so men that +live in the love of evil lose the capacity of discerning the evil, and +'he that walketh in darkness' becomes blind, blind to his sin, and +blind to all the realities of life. + +Then is it not true, too, that many of us systematically and of set +purpose, continually avoid all questions as to the moral nature of our +conduct? How many a man and woman who reads these words never sits down +to think whether what they have been doing is right or wrong, because +they have deep down in their consciences an uneasy suspicion as to what +the answer would be. So, by reason of fostering passion, by reason of +listening to wishes, by reason of the habit of wrongdoing, by reason of +the systematic avoidance of all careful investigation of our character +and of our conduct, we lose the power of fairly deciding upon the +nature of our own acts. + +Then self-love comes in, and still another thing tends to blind us. We +are all ready to acquiesce in the general indictment, and so to shirk +the particular application of it. That is what people do about all +great moral principles that ought to affect conduct,--they admit them +in words, as general truths applying to mankind, and then hide +themselves in the crowd, and think that they escape the incidence and +particular application of the truths. No one of us would, I suppose, +venture in plain words to stand up and say: 'I am an exception to your +general confessions of sin,' and most of us would be ready to unite in +the acknowledgment: 'We have all come short of the glory of God,' +though in our consciences there has never stirred the faintest movement +of self-condemnation even whilst our lips have been uttering the +confession. Do not shrink away in the crowd, my brother! Come out to +the front, and stand by yourself as God sees you, isolated. Look at +your own actions; never mind about other men's. Do not content +yourselves with saying,' _We_ have sinned'; say, '_I_ have sinned against +_Thee._' God and you are as if alone in the universe. 'Against Thee, Thee +only, have I sinned.' There are no crowds in God's eyes; He deals with +single souls. Every one of us,--thou, and thou, and thou,--must give +account of himself to God. + +II. In the next place, let me ask you to think how this story suggests +that the true work of God's message is to tear down the veil and to +show the ugly thing. + +'Nathan said unto David, Thou art the man.' It needed a prophet to do +that, with divine authority. Nothing less would suffice to get through +the thick bosses of the buckler of self-conceit and ignorance which he +had to penetrate. As God's messenger, he gathered up, as I said, into +one sharp-pointed, keen-edged, steel-bright sentence, the very spirit +of the whole ancient Law, which seeks to individualise the sinner, and +to drive home to the conscience the consciousness of wrong-doing. + +The remarks that I have been making, in the former part of this sermon, +imperfect as they must necessarily be, may at least serve one or two +purposes in reference to this part of my discourse. + +It seems to me that if what I have been saying as to a man's blindness +to his own true moral character be at all correct, there flows from +that thought a strong presumption in favour of a divine revelation. We +need another than our own voice to lay down the law of conduct, and to +accuse and condemn the breaches of it. Conscience is not a wholly +reliable guide, and is neither an impartial nor an all-knowing judge. +Unconsciousness of evil is not innocence. It is not the purest of women +who 'wipes her mouth and says, I have done no harm.' My conscience says +to me, 'It is wrong to do wrong'; but when I say to my conscience, +'Yes, and pray what is wrong?' a large variety of answers is possible. +A man may sophisticate his conscience, or bribe his conscience, or +throttle his conscience, or sear his conscience. And so the man who is +worst, who, therefore, ought to be most chastised by his conscience, +has most immunity from it, and where, if it is to be of use, it ought +to be most powerful, there it is weakest. + +What then? Why this, then--a standard that varies is not a standard; we +are left with a leaden rule. My conscience, your conscience, is like +the standard measures which we at present possess, which by their very +names--foot, handbreadth, nail, and the like, tell us that they were +originally but the length of one man's limb. And so your measure of +right and wrong, and another man's measure, though they may +substantially correspond, yet differ according to your differences of +education, character, and a thousand other things. So that the +individual man's standard needs to be rectified. You have to send all +the weights and measures up to the Tower now and then, to get them +stamped and certified. And, as I believe, this fluctuation of our moral +judgments shows the need for a fixed pattern and firm unchangeable +standard, external to our mutable selves. A light on deck which pitches +with the pitching ship is no guide. It must flash from a white pillar +founded on a rock and immovable amid the restless waves. Our need of +such a standard raises a strong presumption that a good God will give +us what we need, if He can. Such a standard He has given, as I believe, +in the revelation of Himself which lies in this book, and culminates in +the life and character of Jesus Christ our Lord. There, and by that, we +can set our watches. There we can read the law of morality, and by our +deflections from it we can measure the amount of our guilt. + +But beyond that, the remarks which I have already made in the former +part of my sermon may suggest to us, along with this utterance of the +prophet's, that one indispensable characteristic and certain criterion +of a true message and gospel from God is that it pierces the conscience +and kindles the sense of sin. My dear brethren, there is a great deal +of so-called Christian teaching, both from pulpits and books in this +day, which, to my mind, is altogether defective by reason of its +underestimate of the cardinal fact of sin, and its consequent failure +to represent the fundamental characteristic of the gospel as being +deliverance and redemption. I am quite sure that the root of nine- +tenths of all the heresies that have ever afflicted the Christian +Church, and of the weakness of so much popular Christianity, is none +other than this failure adequately to recognise the universality and +the gravity of the fact of transgression. If a word comes to you, calls +itself God's message, and does not start with man's sin, nor put in the +forefront of its utterances the way by which the dominion of that sin +in your own heart can be broken, and the penalties of that sin in your +present and future life can be swept away, it is condemned, _ipso +facto_, as not a gospel from God, or fit for man. O my brother! it +sounds harsh; but it is the truest kindness, when Nathan stands before +the king, and with his flashing eye and stern, calm voice says, 'Thou +art the man.' Was not that nobler, truer, tenderer, worthier of God, +than if he had smoothed David down with soft speeches that would not +have roused his conscience? Is it not the truest benevolence that keeps +the surgeon's hand steady whilst his heart is touched by the pain that +he inflicts, as he thrusts his gleaming instrument of tender cruelty +into the poisonous sore? And are not God's mercy and love manifest for +us in this, that He begins all His work on us with the grave, solemn +indictment of each soul by itself, 'Thou art the man'? + + 'He showed me all the mercy, + For He taught me all the sin.' + +III. Lastly, let me say that God accuses us and condemns us one by one +that He may save us one by one. + +The meaning of Nathan's sharp sentence was speedily disclosed when the +broken-down king exclaimed, 'I have sinned against the Lord,' and when, +with laconic force as great as that which barbed the condemnation, the +prophet stanched the wound with the brief words, 'And the Lord hath +made to pass the iniquity of thy sin.' The intention of the accusation +is the extension of the mercy and forgiveness. God, as the Apostle puts +it, 'hath concluded all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon +all.' + +And now, mark, for the carrying out of that divine purpose in regard to +us, and for our possession of the proffered mercy, the same +individualising and isolating process is needful as was needful for the +conviction of the sin. God desires to save the world, but God can only +save men one at a time. There must be an individual access to Him for +the reception of forgiveness, as there must be in regard to the +conviction of sin, just as if He and I were the only two beings in the +whole universe. There is no wholesale entrance into God's Church or +into God's kingdom. God's mercy is not given to crowds, except as +composed of individuals who have individually received it. There must +be the personal act of faith; there must be my solitary coming to Him. +As the old mystics used to define prayer, so I might define the whole +process by which men are saved from their sins, 'the flight of the +lonely soul to the lonely God.' My brother, it is not enough for you to +say, 'We have sinned'; say, 'I have sinned.' It is not enough that from +a gathered congregation there should go up the united litany, 'Lord, +have mercy upon us! Christ, have mercy upon us! Lord, have mercy upon +us!' You must make the prayer your own: 'Lord, have mercy upon +_me_!' It is not enough that you should believe, as I suppose most +of you fancy that you believe, that Christ has died for the sins of the +whole world. That belief will give you no share in His forgiveness. You +must come to closer grips with Him than that; and you must be able to +say, 'Who loved _me_, and gave Himself for _me_.' Let us have +no running away into the crowd. Come out, and stand by yourselves, and +for yourselves stretch out your own band, and take Christ for +yourselves. + +A man may die of starvation in a granary. You may be lost in the midst +of this abundance which Christ has provided for you. And the difference +between really possessing salvation and not possessing it, lies very +largely in the difference between saying 'us' and 'me.' 'Thou art the +man' in regard to the general accusation of sin; 'Thou art the man' in +regard to the solemn law which proclaims that 'the soul that sinneth it +shall die'; and, blessed be God, 'Thou art the man' in regard to the +great promise that says, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and +drink.' Christ gives you a blank cheque in His word: 'Whoso cometh unto +Me, I will in no wise cast out.' Write thine own name in, and by thy +personal faith in the Lamb of God that died for thee, thy sins shall +pass away; and all the fulness of God shall be thy very own for ever. +'If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, and if thou scornest, +thou alone shall bear it.' + + + + +DAVID AND NATHAN + +'And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan +said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin.'--2 SAMUEL xii. +13. + + +We ought to be very thankful that Scripture never conceals the faults +of its noblest men. High among the highest of them stands the poet- +king. Whoever, for nearly three thousand years, has wished to express +the emotions of trust in God, longing after purity, aspiration, and +rapture of devotion, has found that his words have been before him. + +And this man sins; black, inexcusable, aggravated transgression. You +know the shameful story; I need not tell it over again. The Bible gives +it us in all its naked ugliness, and there are precious lessons to be +got out of it; such, for instance, as that it is not innocence that +makes men good. '_This_ is the man after God's own heart!' people +sneer. Yes! Not because saints have a peculiar morality, and atone for +adultery and murder by making or singing psalms, but because, having +fallen into foul sin, he learned to abhor it, and with many tears, with +unconquerable resolution, with deepened trust in God, set his face once +more to press toward the mark. That is a lesson worth learning. + +And, again, David was not a hypocrite because he thus fell. All sin is +inconsistent with devotion; but, thank God, we cannot say how much or +how dark the sin must be which is incompatible with devotion, nor how +much evil there may still lurk and linger in a heart of which the main +set and aspiration are towards purity and God. + +And, again, the worst transgressions are not the passionate outbursts +contradictory of the main direction of a life which sometimes come; but +the habitual, though they be far smaller, evils which are honey-combing +the moral nature. White ants will pick a carcase clean sooner than a +lion. And many a man who calls himself a Christian, and thinks himself +one, is in far more danger, from little pieces of chronic meanness in +his daily life, or sharp practice in his business, than ever David was +in his blackest evil. + +But the main lesson of all is that great and blessed one of the +possibility of any evil and sin like this black one, being annihilated +and caused to pass away through repentance and confession. It is to +that aspect of our text that I turn, and ask you to look with me at the +three things that come out of it: David's penitence; David's pardon +consequent upon his penitence; and David's punishment, notwithstanding +his penitence and pardon. + +I. First, then, the penitence. + +What a divine simplicity there is in the words of our text: 'David said +unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.' That is all. In the +original, two words are enough to revolutionise the man's whole life, +and to alter all his relations to the divine justice and the divine +Friend. 'I have sinned against the Lord.' Not an easy thing to say; and +as the story shows us, a thing that David took a long time to mount up +to. + +Remember the narrative. A year has passed since his transgression. What +sort of a year has it been? One of the Psalms tells us, 'When I kept +silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long; for day +and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the +drought of summer.' There were long months of sullen silence, in which +a clear apprehension and a torturing experience of divine +disapprobation, like a serpent's fang, struck poison into his veins. +His very physical frame seems to have suffered. His heart was as dry as +the parched grass upon the steppes. That was what he got by his sin. A +moment of turbid animal delight, and long days of agony; dumb suffering +in which the sense of evil had not yet broken him down into a rain of +sweet tears, but lay, like a burning consciousness, within his heart. + +And then came the prophet with his parable, so tender, so ingenious, so +powerful. And the quick flash of generous indignation, which showed how +noble the man was after all, with which he responded to the picture, +unknowing that it was a picture of his own dastardly conduct, led on to +the solemn words in which Nathan tore away the veil; and with a +threefold lever, if I may so say, overthrew the toppling structure of +his impenitence. + +First of all, and most chiefly, he seeks to win him to repentance by a +picture of God's great love and goodness. 'I have done this and that +and the other thing for thee. What hast thou done for Me?' Ah, that is +the true beginning. You cannot frighten men into penitence, you may +frighten them into remorse; and the remorse may or may not lead on to +repentance. But bring to bear upon a man's heart the thought of the +infinite and perfect love of God, and that is the solvent of all his +obstinate impenitence, and melts him to cry, 'I have sinned.' And along +with that element there is the other, the plain striking away of all +disguises from the ugly fact of the sin. The prophet gives it its +hideous name, and that is one element in the process which leads to +true repentance. For so strange and subtle are the veils which we cast +over our own evils, that it comes sometimes to us with a shock and a +start when some word, that we know to connote wickedness of the deepest +dye, is applied to them. David had very likely so sophisticated his +conscience that, though he had been writhing under the sense that he +was a wrongdoer, it came to him with a kind of ugly surprise when the +naked words 'adultery' and 'murder' were pressed up against his +consciousness. + +And the third element that brought him to his senses, and to his knees, +was the threatening of punishment, which is salutary when it follows +these other two, the revelation of a divine love and the unveiling of +the essential nature of my own act; but which without these is but 'the +hangman's whip' to which only inferior natures will respond. And these +three, the appeal to God's love, the revelation of his own sin, the +solemn warning of its consequences--these three brought to bear upon +David's heart, broke him down into a passion of penitence in which he +has only the two words to say, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' That +is all. That is enough. + +And what is it? It is the recognition--which is essential to all real +penitence--that I have not merely broken some impersonal law, or done +something that hurts my fellows, but that I have broken the relations +which I ought to sustain to a living, loving Person, who is God. We +commit crimes against society, we commit faults against one another, we +commit sins against God, and the very notion of sin involves, as its +correlative, the thought of the divine Lawgiver. + +So, dear brethren, penitence goes deeper than a recognition of demerit +and unworthiness. It is more than an acknowledgment of imperfection and +breach of morality. It is something different altogether from the +acknowledgment that I have committed a fault against my fellow. David +had done Bathsheba and Uriah, and in them his whole kingdom, foul +wrong, but, as he says in Psalm li., 'Against Thee, Thee _only,_ +have I _sinned._' His account with these is of a less grave +character, but 'against Thee I sinned.' + +And in like manner, this penitence contains in it the recognition of +transgression against a loving Friend and Father, which had been +brought home to his mind by all the words of the rebuking prophet, who +was a kind of incarnate conscience for him now. And it contains, still +further, confession to God against whom he had sinned. The first +impulse of a man when he dimly discerns how far he has departed from +God's law, is that which the old story represents was the first impulse +of the first sinners--to hide himself in the trees of the garden. The +second impulse is to go to Him against whom we have sinned, and who +only therefore can deal with the sin in the way of forgiveness, and to +pour it all out before Him. Once an Apostle, when he caught a partial +glimpse of his own demerit and transgression, said to the Master with a +natural impulse, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' But +Peter had a deeper sense of his own sin, and a happier knowledge of +what Christ could do for his sin, when his brother Apostle whispering +to him in the boat, 'It is the Lord,' the traitor Apostle cast himself +into the shallow water and floundered through it anyhow, to get as +close as he could to the Master's feet. + +Do not go away from God because you feel that you have sinned against +Him. Where should you go but to your mother's bosom, and hide your face +there, if you have committed faults against her? Where should you go +but to God if against Him you have transgressed? Look, my brother, at +your own character and conduct; measure the deficiencies and +imperfections, the transgressions and faults; ay! perhaps with some of +you, the crimes against men and society and human laws; but see beneath +all these a deeper thought; and stifle not the words that would come to +your lips as a relief, like a surgeon's lancet struck into some foul +gathering, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' + +II. And now, secondly, notice with me David's pardon consequent upon +his repentance. + +Can there be anything more striking--I do not say dramatic, for the +circumstances are far too serious for terms of art--can there be +anything more in the nature of a gospel to us all than that brief +dialogue? David said unto Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And +Nathan said unto David, 'The Lord also hath put away thy sin.' + +Immediate forgiveness, that is the first lesson that I would press upon +you. Dear brethren, it is an experience which you may each repeat in +your own history at this moment. It needs but the confession in order +that the forgiveness should come. At this end of the telephone whisper +your confession, and before it has well passed your lips there comes +back the voice sweet as that of angels, 'The Lord hath forgiven thy +sin.' One word, one motion of a heart aware of, and hating, and +desiring to escape from, its evil, brings with a rush the whole fulness +of fatherly and forgiving love into any heart. And that one confession +may be the turning-point of a man's life, and may obliterate all the +sinful past, and may bring him into loving, reconciled, harmonious +relations with the Almighty Judge. + +Learn, too, not only the immediacy of the answer and the simplicity of +the means, but learn how thorough and complete God's dealing with your +sin may be. The original language of my text might be rendered, 'The +Lord hath caused thy sin to pass away'; the thought being substantially +that of some impediment or veil between man and Him which, with a touch +of His hand, He dissolves as it were into vapour, and so leaves all the +sky clear for His warmth and sunshine to pour down upon the heart. We +do not need to enter upon theological language in talking about this +great gift of forgiveness. It means substantially that howsoever you +and I have piled up mountain upon mountain, Alp upon Alp, of our evils +and transgressions, all pass away and become non-existent. Another word +of the Old Testament expresses the same idea when it speaks about sin +being 'covered.' Another word expresses the same idea when it speaks +about God as 'casting' men's sins 'into the depths of the sea'--all +meaning this one thing, that they no longer stand as barriers between +the free flow of His love and our poor hearts. He takes away the sense +of guilt, touches the wounded conscience, and there is healing in His +hand. As, according to the old belief, the sovereign, by laying his +hand upon sufferers from 'the King's evil' healed them and cleansed +them, so the touch of His forgiving love takes away the sense of guilt +and heals the spirit. He removes all the impediments between His love +and us. His love can now come undisturbed. His deepest and solemnest +judgments do not need to come; and no more does there stand frowning +between us and Him the spectre of our past. + +People tell us that forgiveness is impossible, 'that whatsoever a man +soweth, that must he also reap'; that law is law, and that the +consequences cannot be averted. That is all quite true if there is not +a God. It is not true if there is; and if there is no God, there is no +sin. So if there is a God, there is forgiveness. + +Consequences, as I shall have to show you in a moment, may still +remain, but pardon may be ours all the same. When you forgive your +child, does it mean that you do not thrash it, or does it mean that you +take it to your heart? And when God pardons, does it mean that He +waives His laws, or does it mean that He lets us come into the whole +warmth and sunshine of His love? Will you go there? + +Forgiveness was to Jews a thing difficult to apprehend. It was hard for +them to understand the harmony of it with the rigid retribution on +which their whole system of religion reposed. But you and I have come +further into the light than Nathan and David had. And I have to preach +a modification of the words of my text which is not a limitation of +them, but the unveiling of their basis and the surest confirmation of +them, when I say 'In Him'--Jesus Christ--'we have redemption through +His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.' + +The New Testament teaches us that the Cross of Christ threw its power +back upon former transgressions as well as forward upon future ones; +and that in Him past ages, though they knew Him not, received +remission. Christ is the Medium of the divine forgiveness; Christ's +Cross is the ground of the divine pardon; Christ's sacrifice is the +guarantee for us that the sin which He has borne He has borne away. 'By +His stripes we are healed.' 'Wherefore, men and brethren, be it known +unto you, that through this Man is preached unto _us_ the +forgiveness of _our_ sins.' + +III. Third and lastly, look at the punishment which follows--shall I +say _notwithstanding_ or _because of_?--the penitence and the pardon. + +In David's life there came the immediate retribution in kind, which was +signalised as such by the divine message--the death of the child 'who +was conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity.' But beyond that, look at +David's life after his great fall. There was no more brightness in it. +His own sin and example of lust loosed the bonds of morality in his +household, and his son followed his example and improved upon it. And +from that came Absalom's murder of his brother, and from that Absalom's +exile, and from that Absalom's rebellion, and from that Absalom's +death, which nearly killed his poor old father. And for all the rest of +his days his home was troubled, and his last years ended with the +turmoil of a disputed succession before his eyes were closed, all +traceable to this one foul crime. + +Joab was the torment of David's later days, and Joab's power over him +depended upon his having been the instrument of Uriah's murder; and so +the master of the king, whose bidding he had done. Ahithophel was the +brain of Absalom's conspiracy. His defection struck a sharp arrow into +David's heart--'mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted.' He +evidently hated the king with fierce hatred. He was Bathsheba's +grandfather; and we are not going wrong, I think, in tracing his +passionate hatred, and the peculiar form of insult which he counselled +Absalom to adopt, to the sense of foul wrong which had been done to his +house by David's crime. + +And so all through his days this poor old king had to do what you and I +have to do--to bear the temporal results of sin. 'Be not deceived, God +is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.' + +So 'of our pleasant vices the gods make whips to scourge us.' And it is +in mercy that we have to drink as we have brewed, that we have to lie +upon the beds that we have made; that in regard to outward +consequences, and in regard to our own hearts and inward history, we +are the architects of our own fortunes, and cannot escape the penalties +of our sins and of our faults. Better to have it so than be cursed with +impunity! + +Some of you young men are sowing diseases in your bones that will +either make you invalids or will kill you before your time. All of us +are bearing about with us, in some measure and sense, the issues, which +are the punishments, of our evil. Let us thank Him and take up the +praise of the old psalm, 'Thou wast a God that forgivest them, though +Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.' There is either merciful +chastisement here, that we may be parted from our sins, or there is +judgment hereafter. + +O my brother! let me beseech you, do not commit the suicide of +impenitence, but go to Christ, in whom all our sins are taken away, and +lay your hands on the head of that great Sacrifice, and 'the Lord shall +cause to pass the iniquity of your sin.' + + + + +GOD'S BANISHED ONES + +'God doth devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.' 2 +SAMUEL xiv. 14. + + +David's good-for-nothing son Absalom had brought about the murder of +one of his brothers, and had fled the country. His father weakly loved +the brilliant blackguard, and would fain have had him back, but was +restrained by a sense of kingly duty. Joab, the astute Commander-in- +chief, a devoted friend of David, saw how the land lay, and formed a +plan to give the king an excuse for doing what he wished to do. So he +got hold of a person who is called 'a wise woman' from the country, +dressed her as a mourner, and sent her with an ingeniously made-up +story of how she was a widow with two sons, one of whom had killed the +other, and of how the relatives insisted on their right of avenging +blood, and demanded the surrender of the murderer; by which, as she +pathetically said, 'the coal' that was left her would be 'quenched.' +The king's sympathy was quickly roused--as was natural in so impulsive +and poetic a nature--and he pledged his word, and finally his oath, +that the offender should be safe. + +So the woman has him in a trap, having induced him to waive justice and +to absolve the guilty by an arbitrary act. Then she turns upon him with +an application to his own case, and bids him free himself from the +guilt of double measures and inconsistency by doing with his banished +son the same thing--viz. abrogating law and bringing back the offender. +In our text she urges still higher considerations--viz. those of God's +way of treating criminals against His law, of whom she says that He +spares their lives, and devises means-or, as the words might perhaps be +rendered, 'plans plannings'--by which He may bring them back. She would +imply that human power and sovereignty are then noblest and likest +God's when they remit penalties and restore wanderers. + +I do not further follow the story, which ends, as we all know, with +Absalom's ill-omened return. But the wise woman's saying goes very +deep, and, in its picturesque form, may help to bring out more vividly +some truths--all-important ones--of which I wish to beg your very +earnest consideration and acceptance. + +I. Note, then, who are God's banished ones. + +The woman's words are one of the few glimpses which we have of the +condition of religious thought amongst the masses of Israel. Clearly +she had laid to heart the teaching which declared the great, solemn, +universal fact of sin and consequent separation from God. For the +'banished ones' of whom she speaks are no particular class of glaring +criminals, but she includes within the designation the whole human +race, or, at all events, the whole Israel to which she and David +belonged. There may have been in her words--though that is very +doubtful--a reference to the old story of Cain after the murder of his +brother. For that narrative symbolises the consequences of all evil- +doing and evil-loving, in that he was cast out from the presence of +God, and went away into a 'land of wandering,' there to hide from the +face of the Father. On the one hand, it was banishment; on the other +hand, it was flight. So had Absalom's departure been, and so is ours. + +Strip away the metaphor, dear brethren, and it just comes to this +thought, which I seek to lay upon the hearts of all my hearers now--you +cannot be blessedly and peacefully near God, unless you are far away +from sin. If you take two polished plates of metal, and lay them +together, they will adhere. If you put half a dozen tiny grains of sand +or dust between them, they will fall apart. So our sins have come +between us and our God. They have not separated God from us, blessed be +His name! for His love, and His care, and His desire to bless, His +thought, and His knowledge, and His tenderness, all come to every soul +of man. But they have rent us apart from Him, in so far as they make us +unwilling to be near Him, incapable of receiving the truest nearness +and blessedness of His presence, and sometimes desirous to hustle Him +out of our thoughts, and, if we could, out of our world, rather than to +expatiate in the calm sunlight of His presence. + +That banishment is self-inflicted. God spurns away no man, but men +spurn Him, and flee from Him. Many of us know what it is to pass whole +days, and weeks, and years, as practical Atheists. God is not in all +our thoughts. + +And more than that, the miserable disgrace and solitude of a soul that +is godless in the world is what many of us like. The Prodigal Son +scraped all his goods together, and thought himself freed from a very +unwelcome bondage, and a fine independent youth, when he went away into +'the far country.' It was not quite so pleasant when provisions and +clothing fell short, and the swine's trough was the only table that was +spread before him. But yet there are many of us, I fear, who are +perfectly comfortable away from God, in so far as we can get away from +Him, and who never are aware of the degradation that lies in a soul's +having lowered itself to this, that it had rather not have God +inconveniently near. + +Away down in the luxurious islands of the Southern Sea you will find +degraded Englishmen who have chosen rather to cast in their lot with +savages than to have to strain and work and grow. These poor beach- +combers of the Pacific, not happy in their degradation, but wallowing +in it, are no exaggerated pictures of the condition, in reality, of +thousands of us who dwell far from God, and far therefore from +righteousness and peace. + +II. Notice God's yearning over His banished ones. + +The woman in our story hints at, or suggests, a parallel which, though +inadequate, is deeply true. David was Absalom's father and Absalom's +king; and the two relationships fought against each other in his heart. +The king had to think of law and justice; the father cried out for his +son. The young man's offence had neither altered his relationship nor +affected the father's heart. + +All that is true, far more deeply, blessedly true, in regard to our +relation, the wandering exiles' relation, to God. For, whilst I believe +that the highest form of sonship is only realised in the hearts of men +who have been made partakers of a new life through Jesus Christ, I +believe, just as firmly and earnestly, that every man and woman on the +face of the earth, by virtue of physical life derived from God, by +virtue of a spiritual being, which, in a very real and deep sense, +still bears the image of God, and by reason of His continued love and +care over them, is a child of His. The banished son is still a son, and +is '_His_ banished one.' If there is love--wonderful as the +thought is, and heart-melting as it ought to be--there must be loss +when the child goes away. Human love would not have the same name as +God's unless there were some analogy between the two. And though we +walk in dark places, and had better acknowledge that the less we speak +upon such profound subjects the less likely we are to err, yet it seems +to me that the whole preciousness of the revelation of God in Scripture +is imperilled unless we frankly recognise this--that His love is like +ours, delights in being returned like ours, and is like ours in that it +rejoices in presence and knows a sense of loss in absence. If you think +that that is too bold a thing to say, remember who it was that taught +us that the father fell on the neck of the returning prodigal, and +kissed him; and that the rapture of his joy was the token and measure +of the reality of his regret, and that it was the father to whom the +prodigal son was 'lost.' Deep as is the mystery, let nothing, dear +brethren, rob us of the plain fact that God's love moves all around the +worst, the unworthiest, the most rebellious in the far-off land, and +'desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from +his iniquity and live.' + +And it is you, _you_, whom He wants back; you whom He would fain +rescue from your aversion to good and your carelessness of Him. It is +you whom He seeks, according to the great saying of the Master, 'the +Father seeketh' for worshippers in spirit and in truth. + +III. Note the formidable obstacles to the restoration of the banished. + +The words 'banished' and 'expelled' in our text are in the original the +same; and the force of the whole would be better expressed if the same +English word was employed as the equivalent of both. We should then see +more clearly than the variation of rendering in our text enables us to +see, that the being 'expelled' is no further stage which God devises +means to prevent, but that what is meant is that He provides methods by +which the banished should not be banished--that is, should be restored +to Himself. + +Now, note that the language of this 'wise woman,' unconsciously to +herself, confesses that the parallel that she was trying to draw did +not go on all fours; for what she was asking the king to do was simply, +by an arbitrary act, to sweep aside law and to remit penalty. She +instinctively feels that that is not what can be done by God, and so +she says that He 'devises means' by which He can restore His banished. + +That is to say, forgiveness and the obliteration of the consequences of +a man's sin, and his restoration to the blessed nearness to God, which +is life, are by no means such easy and simple matters as people +sometimes suppose them to be. The whole drift of popular thinking to- +day goes in the direction of a very superficial and easy gospel, which +merely says, 'Oh, of course, of course God forgives! Is not God Love? +Is not God our Father? What more do you want than that?' Ah! you want a +great deal more than that, my friends. Let me press upon you two or +three plain considerations. There are formidable obstacles in the way +of divine forgiveness. + +If there are to be any pardon and restoration at all, they must be such +as will leave untouched the sovereign majesty of God's law, and, +untampered with, the eternal gulf between good and evil. That easygoing +gospel which says, 'God will pardon, of course!' sounds very charitable +and very catholic, but at bottom it is very cruel. For it shakes the +very foundations on which the government of God must repose. God's law +is the manifestation of God's character; and that is no flexible thing +which can be bent about at the bidding of a weak good-nature. I believe +that men are right in holding that certainly God must pardon, but I +believe that they are fatally wrong in not recognising this--that the +only kind of forgiveness which is possible for Him to bestow is one in +which there shall be no tampering with the tremendous sanctions of His +awful law; and no tendency to teach that it matters little whether a +man is good or bad. The pardon, which many of us seem to think is quite +sufficient, is a pardon that is nothing more noble than good-natured +winking at transgression. And oh! if this be all that men have to lean +on, they are leaning on a broken reed. The motto on the blue cover of +the _Edinburgh Review_, for over a hundred years now, is true: +'The judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted.' David struck a +fatal blow at the prestige of his own rule, when he weakly let his son +off from penalty. And, if it were possible to imagine such a thing, God +Himself would strike as fatal a blow at the justice and judgment which +are the foundations of His throne, if His forgiveness was such as to be +capable of being confounded with love which was too weakly indulgent to +be righteous. + +Further, if there are to be forgiveness and restoration at all, they +must be such as will turn away the heart of the pardoned man from his +evil. The very story before us shows that it is not every kind of +pardon which makes a man better. The scapegrace Absalom came back +unsoftened, without one touch of gratitude to his father in his base +heart, without the least gleam of a better nature dawning upon him, and +went flaunting about the court until his viciousness culminated in his +unnatural rebellion. That is to say, there is a forgiveness which +nourishes the seeds of the crimes that it pardons. We have only to look +into our own hearts, and we have only to look at the sort of people +round us, to be very sure that, unless the forgiveness that is granted +us from the heavens has in it an element which will avert our wills and +desires from evil, the pardon will be very soon needed again, for the +evil will very soon be done again. + +If there are to be forgiveness and restoration at all, they must come +in such a fashion as that there shall be no doubt whatsoever of their +reality and power. The vague kind of trust in a doubtful mercy, about +which I have been speaking, may do all very well for people that have +never probed the depths of their own hearts. Superficial notions of our +sin, which so many of us have, are contented with superficial remedies +for it. But let a man get a glimpse of his own real self, and I think +that he will wish for something a great deal more solid to grip hold +of, than nebulous talk of the kind that I have been describing. If once +we feel ourselves to be struggling in the black flood of that awful +river, we shall want a firmer hold upon the bank than is given to us by +some rootless tree or other. We must clutch something that will stand a +pull, if we are to be drawn from the muddy waters. + +People say to us, 'Oh, God will forgive, of course!' Does this world +look like a place where forgiveness is such an easy thing? Is there +anything more certain than that consequences are inevitable when deeds +have been done, and 'that whatsoever a man sows that shall he also +reap' and whatsoever he brews that shall he also drink? And is it into +a grim, stern world of retribution like this that people will come, +with their smiling, sunny gospel of a matter-of-course forgiveness, +upon very easy terms of a slight penitence? + +Brethren, God has to 'devise means,' which is a strong way of saying, +in analogy to the limitations of humanity, that He cannot, by an +arbitrary act of His will, pardon a sinful man. His eternal nature +forbids it. His established law forbids it. The fabric of His universe +forbids it. The good of men forbids it. The problem is insoluble by +human thought. The love of God is like some great river that pours its +waters down its channel, and is stayed by a black dam across its +course, along which it feels for any cranny through which it may pour +itself. We could never save ourselves, but + + 'He that might the vengeance best have took, + Found out the remedy.' + +IV. And so the last word that I have to say is to note the triumphant, +divine solution of these difficulties. + +The work of Jesus Christ, and the work of Jesus Christ alone, meets all +the requirements. It vindicates the majesty of law, it deepens the gulf +between righteousness and sin. Where is there such a demonstration of +the awful truth that 'the wages of sin is death' as on that Cross on +which the Son of God died for us and for all 'His banished ones'? Where +is there such a demonstration of the fixedness of the divine law as in +that death to which the Son of God submitted Himself for us all? Where +do we learn the hideousness of sin, the endless antagonism between God +and it, and the fatal consequences of it, as we learn them in the +sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour? Where do we find the misery and +desolation of banishment from God so tragically uttered as in that cry +which rent the darkness of eclipse,' My God! My God! why hast Thou +forsaken Me?' + +That work of Christ's is the only way by which it is made absolutely +certain that sins forgiven shall be sins abhorred; and that a man once +restored shall cleave to his Restorer as to his Life. That work is the +only way by which a man can be absolutely certain that there is +forgiveness, in spite of all the accusations of his own conscience; in +spite of all the inexorable working out of penalties in the system of +the world which seems to contradict the fond belief; in spite of all +that a foreboding gaze tells, or ought to tell, of a judgment that is +to follow. + +Brethren, God has devised a means. None else could have done so. I +beseech you, realise these facts that I have been trying to bring +before you, and the considerations that I have based upon them, so far +as they commend themselves to your hearts and consciences; and do not +be content with acquiescing in them, but act upon them. We are all +exiles from God, unless we have been 'brought nigh by the blood of +Christ.' In Him, and in Him alone, can God restore His banished ones. +In Him, and in Him alone, can we find a pardon which cleanses the +heart, and ensures the removal of the sin which it forgives. In Him, +and in Him alone, can we find, not a peradventure, not a subjective +certainty, but an external fact which proclaims that verily there is +forgiveness for us all. I pray you, dear friends, do not be content +with that half-truth, which is ever the most dangerous lie, of divine +pardon apart from Jesus Christ. Lay your sins upon His head, and your +hand in the hand of the Elder Brother, who has come to the far-off land +to seek us, and He will lead you back to the Father's house and the +Father's heart, and you will be 'no more strangers and foreigners, but +fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God.' + + + + +PARDONED SIN PUNISHED + +'And It came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and +horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2. And Absalom rose up early, +and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man +that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom +called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy +servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. 3. And Absalom said unto +him. See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed +of the king to hear thee. 4. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made +judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might +come unto me, and I would do him justice! 5. And it was so, that when +any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, +and took him, and kissed him. 6. And on this manner did Absalom to all +Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts +of the men of Israel. 7. And it came to pass after forty years, that +Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, +which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron. 8. For thy servant vowed a +vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring +me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. 9. And the +king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. 10. +But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As +soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom +reigneth in Hebron. 11. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of +Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and +they knew not any thing. 12. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the +Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he +offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people +increased continually with Absalom.'--2 SAMUEL xv. 1-12. + + +There was little brightness in David's life after his great sin. Nathan +had told him, even while announcing his forgiveness, that the sword +should never depart from his house; and this revolt of Absalom's may be +directly traced to his father's disgraceful crime. The solemn lesson +that pardoned sin works out its consequences, so that 'whatsoever a man +soweth, that shall he also reap,' is taught by it. The portion of the +story with which we are concerned has two stages,--the slow hatching of +the plot, and its final outburst. + +I. Verses 1 to 6 give us the preparation of the mine. It takes four +years, during which Absalom plays all the tricks usual to aspirants for +the most sweet voices of the multitude. He seems to have been but a +poor creature; but it does not take much brain to do a great deal of +mischief. He was vain, headstrong, with a dash of craft and a large +amount of ambition. He had no love for his father, and no ballast of +high principle, to say nothing of religion. He was a spoiled child +grown to be a man, with a child's petulance and unreason, but a man's +passions. He loved his unfortunate sister, but it was as much wounded +honour as love which led him to the murder of his elder brother Amnon. +That crime cleared his way to the throne; and David's half-and-half +treatment of him after it, neither sternly punishing nor freely +pardoning, set the son against the father, and left a sense of injury. +So he became a rebel. + +The story tells very vividly how he adopted the familiar tactics of +pretenders. How old, and yet how modern, it reads! We who live in a +country where everybody is an 'elector' of some sort, and candidates +are plentiful, see the same things going on, in a little different +dress, before our eyes. Absalom begins operations by dazzling people +with ostentatious splendour. In better days Samuel had trudged on foot, +driving a heifer before him, to anoint his father; and royalty had +retained a noble simplicity in the hands of Saul and David. But 'plain +living and high thinking' did not suit Absalom; and he had gauged the +popular taste accurately enough in setting up his chariot with its +fifty runners. That was a show something like a king, and, no doubt, +much more approved than David's simplicity. But it was an evil omen to +any one who looked below the surface. When luxury grows, devotion +languishes. The senseless ostentation which creeps into the families of +good men, and is sustained by their weak compliance with their spoiled +children's wishes, does a world of harm. We in Lancashire have a +proverb, 'Clogs, carriage, clogs,' which puts into three words the +history of three generations, and is verified over and over again. + +How well Absalom has learned the arts of the office-seeker! Along with +his handsome equipage he shows admirable devotion to the interests of +his 'constituents.' He is early at the gate, so great is his appetite +for work; he is accessible to everybody; he flatters each with the +assurance that his case is clear; he gently drops hints of sad +negligence in high quarters, which he could so soon set right, if only +he were in power; and he will not have the respectful salutation of +inferiors, but grasps every hard hand, and kisses each tanned cheek, +with an affectation of equality very soothing to the dupes. +'Electioneering' is much the same all the world over; and Absalom has a +good many imitators nearer home. + +There was, no doubt, truth in the charge he made against David of +negligence in his judicial and other duties. Ever since his great sin, +the king seems to have been stunned into inaction. The heavy sense of +demerit had taken the buoyancy out of him, and, though forgiven, he +could never regain the elastic energy of purer days. The psalms which +possibly belong to this period show a singular passivity. If we suppose +that he was much in the seclusion of his palace, a heavily-burdened and +spirit-broken man, we can understand how his condition tempted his +heartless, dashing son to grasp at the reins which seemed to be +dropping from his slack hands, and how his passivity gave opportunity +for Absalom's carrying on his schemes undisturbed, and a colour of +reasonableness to his charges. For four years this went on unchecked, +and apparently unsuspected by the king, who must have been much +withdrawn from public life not to have taken alarm. Nothing takes the +spring out of a man like the humiliating sense of sin. The whole tone +of David's conduct throughout the revolt is, 'I deserve it all. Let +them smite, for God hath bidden them.' To this resourceless, +unresisting submission to his enemies, sin had brought the daring +soldier. It is not old age that has broken his courage and spirit, but +the consciousness of his foul guilt, which weighs on him all the more +heavily because he knows that it is pardoned. + +II. The second part of our subject tells of the explosion of the long- +prepared mine. It was necessary to hoist the flag of revolt elsewhere +than in Jerusalem, and some skill is shown in choosing Hebron, which +had been the capital before the capture of the Jebusite city, and in +which there would be natural jealousy of the new metropolis. The +pretext of the sacrifice at Hebron, in pursuance of a vow made by +Absalom in his exile, was meant to touch David's heart in two ways,--by +appealing to his devotional feelings, and by presenting a pathetic +picture of his suffering and devout son vowing in the land where his +father's wrath had driven him. It is not the first time that religion +has been made the stalking-horse for criminal ambition, nor is it the +last. Politicians are but too apt to use it as a cloak for their +personal ends. Absalom talking about his vow is a spectacle that might +have made the most unsuspecting sure that there was something in the +wind. Such a use of religious observances shows more than anything else +could do, the utter irreligion of the man who can make it. A son +rebelling against his father is an ugly sight, but rebellion disguised +as religion adds to the ugliness. David suspects nothing; or, if he +does, is too broken to resist, and, perhaps glad at any sign of grace +in his son, or pleased to gratify any of his wishes, sends him away +with a benediction. What a parting,--the last, though neither knew it! + +The plot had spread widely in four years, and messengers had been sent +through all Israel to summon its adherents to Hebron. If David had been +as popular as in his early days, it would have been impossible for such +a widely spread conspiracy to have come so near a head without some +faithful soul having been found to tell him of it. But obviously there +was much smouldering discontent, arising, no doubt, from such causes as +the pressure of taxation, the gloom that hung over the king, the +partial paralysis of justice, the transference of the capital, the +weight of wars, and, at lowest, the craving for something new. Few +reigns or lives set in unclouded brightness. The western horizon is +often filled with a bank of blackness. Strangely enough, Absalom +invited two hundred men to accompany him, who were ignorant of the +plot. That looks as if its strength was outside Jerusalem, as was +natural. These innocents were sufficiently associated with Absalom to +be asked to accompany him, and, no doubt, he expected to secure their +complicity when he got them away. Unsuspecting people are the best +tools of knaves. It is better not to be on friendly terms with Absalom, +if we would be true to David. The last piece of preparation recorded is +the summoning of Abithophel to come and be the brain of the plot. He +had been David's wisest counsellor, and is probably the 'familiar +friend, in whom I trusted,' whose defection the Psalmist mourns so +bitterly, and whose treachery was a marvellous foreshadowing of the +traitor who dipped in the dish with David's Lord. Note that he had +already withdrawn from Jerusalem to his own city, from which he came at +once to Hebron. Absalom could flatter and play the well-worn tricks of +a pretender, but a subtler, cooler head was wanted now, and the +treacherous son was backed up by the traitor friend. 'And the +conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with +Absalom.' What a tragical issue to the joyous loyalty of early days! +What a strange madness must have laid hold on the nation to have led +them to prefer such a piece of petulance and vanity to their hero-poet- +king! What did it mean? + +The answer is not far to seek, and it is the great lesson of this +story. David's sin was truly repented and freely forgiven, but not left +unpunished. God is too loving to shield men from the natural +consequences, in the physical and social world, of their sins. The +penitent drunkard's hand shakes, and his constitution is not renewed, +though his spirit is. Only, punishment is changed into discipline, when +the heart rests in the assurance of pardon, and is accepted as a token +of a Father's love. In every way God made of the vice the whip to +scourge the sinner, and David, like us all, had to drink as he had +brewed, though he was forgiven the sin. + + + + +A LOYAL VOW + +'And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are +ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.'--2 SAMUEL xv. +15. + + +We stand here at the darkest hour of King David's life. Bowed down by +the consciousness of his past sin, and recognising in the rebellion of +his favourite son the divine chastisement, his early courage and +buoyant daring seem to have ebbed from him wholly. He is forsaken by +the mass of his subjects, he is preparing to abandon Jerusalem, and to +flee as an exile, as he says himself so pathetically, 'whither I may.' +And at that moment of deepest depression there comes one little gleam +of consolation and one piece of chivalrous devotion which brightens the +whole story. His special retainers, apparently a bodyguard mostly of +foreigners, rally round him. Mostly foreigners, I say, for these hard +words 'Cherethites and Pelethites' most probably mean inhabitants of +the island of Crete, and Philistines. And as to six hundred of them, at +all events, there can be no doubt, for they are expressly said to be +'men of Gath who followed after him.' At all events, there was a little +nucleus of men, not his own subjects, who determined to share his fate, +whatever it was. And the words of my text are their words, 'Behold, thy +servants are ready to do whatsoever the king shall appoint.' Or, as the +word stands in the original, in an abrupt, half-finished sentence, even +more pathetic, 'According to all that my lord the king shall appoint, +behold thy servants.' These men were foreigners, not bound to render +obedience to the king, but giving it because their hearts were touched. +They were loyal amongst rebels, so many Abdiels, 'among the faithless, +faithful only' these, and they avowed their determination to cleave to +the sovereign of their choice at a time when his back was at the wall, +and their determination to follow him meant only peril and privation. +They were filled with a passionate personal attachment to the king, and +that personal attachment was ready to manifest itself as a willing +sacrifice, as such love always is ready. + +Now surely in all this there is a lesson for us. The heroism of men +towards a man, the uncalculating devotion and magnificent self- +sacrifice of which the poorest human soul is capable when touched to +fine issues by some heart-love, are surely not all meant to be lavished +on fellow-creatures, who, alas! generally receive the most of them. But +these rude Philistines and Gittites, Goliath's fellow-townsmen, may +preach to us Christians a lesson. Why should not we say as they said, +'According to all that my Lord the King shall appoint, behold Thy +servants'? + +I. So then, first, our King's will ought to be our will. + +The obedience that is promised in these words is not the obedience of +action only, but it is the bowing down of the heart. And for us +Christian men there is neither peace nor nobleness in our lives, except +in the measure in which the will of Jesus Christ and our wills are +accurately conterminous and identical. Wheresoever the two coincide, +there is strength for us; wheresoever they diverge, there are weakness +and certain ruin. These two wills ought to be like two of Euclid's +triangles, or other geometric figures, the one laid upon the other, and +each line and curve and angle accurately corresponding and coinciding, +so that the two cover precisely the same ground. + +Christ's will my will; that is religion. And you and I are Christians +just in the measure in which that coincidence of wills is true about +us, and not one hair's-breadth further, for all our professions. +Wheresoever my will diverges from Christ, in that particular I am not +His man; and 'Christian' simply means 'Christ's man.' I belong to Him +when I think as He does, love as He does, will as He does, accept His +commandment as the law of my life, His pattern as my example, His +providence as sufficient and as good. Where we thus yield ourselves to +Him, there we are strong, and so far, and only so far, have we a right +to say that we are the King's servants at all. + +This absolute submission we do render to one another when our hearts +are touched; and the fact that men can and do give it--husbands to +wives, wives to husbands, children to parents, friends to one another-- +the fact that there is the capacity for that giving of one's self away, +lodged deep in our nature, tells us what we are meant to do with it. +'Whose image and superscription hath it?' Was it meant that we should +thus live in slavish submission even to the dearest loved ones? Surely +not; for that is the destruction of individuality. No, but it was meant +that we should lay our wills down at Christ's feet and say, 'Not my +will, but Thine,' and Thine mine because I have made it mine by love. +Then there is rest, and then we have solved the secret of the world, +and are what our Lord would have us to be. Oh! do not our relations to +our dear ones, with all that infinite power of self-sacrifice that our +love brings with it, rebuke the partial extent of our surrender to our +Master? and may we not be ashamed when we contrast the joy that we feel +in giving up to those that we love, and the reluctance with which, too +often, we obey the Master's commandments, and the long years of +repining and murmuring before we 'submit,' as we call it, which too +often means accept His providences as inevitable, though not as +welcome? To be 'ready to do whatsoever my Lord the King shall choose,' +believing that His choice is wisdom and kindness for us, and His +commandments a blessing and a gift, is the attitude and temper for us +all. Is there any other attitude to Jesus Christ which corresponds to +our relation to Him, to what He has done for us, to what we say that He +is to us? He has the right to us, because He has given us Himself. He +asks nothing from us but that of which He has already set us the +example. 'He gave Himself for us, as the Apostle says with emphasis +that is often unnoticed. 'He _gave Himself_ for us' that He might +'_purchase us_ for _Himself_.' He who would possess another +must impart Himself, and love, that yields a whole man to the loved +one, only springs when the loved one mutually yields her whole heart. +The King does not command from above, but He comes down amongst us, +and He says, 'I gave Myself for thee; what givest thou to Me?' O brethren, +let us answer with that brave, chivalrous old Gittite:--'As the Lord +liveth, and as my Lord the King liveth, surely in what place my Lord +the King shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will Thy +servant be.' + +II. Then notice again, still sticking to our story, that this yielding +up of will, if it is worth anything, will become the more intense and +fervent when surrounded by rebels. + +All Israel, with that poor feather-headed, vain Absalom, were on the +one side, and David and these foreigners were on the other. Years of +quiet uneventful life would never have brought out such magnificent +heroism of devotion and self-surrender, as was crowded into that one +moment of loyalty asserted in the face of triumphant rebels and +traitors. + +In like manner, the more Christ's reign is set at nought by the people +about us, and the less they recognise the blessedness and the duty of +submission to Him, the more strong and unmistakable should be the +utterance of our loyalty. We should grasp His hand tighter by reason of +the storms that may rage round about us. And if we dwell amongst those +who, in any measure, deny or neglect His merciful dominion, let us see +to it that we all the more hoist our colours at our doors, and stand by +them when they are hoisted, that nobody may mistake under which King we +serve. + +You in your places of business, you young men in your warehouses, and +all of us in our several spheres, have to come across many people who +have no share in our loyalty and offer no allegiance to our King. That +is the reason for intenser loyalty on our part. Never you mind what +others say or do; do not take your orders from them. Better be with the +handful that rally round David than with the crowds that run after +Absalom! Better be amongst the few that are faithful than amongst the +multitudes that depart! Dare to be singular, if it comes to that; and +at all events remember that your relationship to your Master is a thing +that concerns Him and you chiefly, and that you are not to take the +pattern of your loyalty, nor the orders for your lives, from any lips +but His own. + +Hush all other voices that would command, and hush them that you may +listen to Him. It is always difficult enough for Christian men to +ascertain, in perplexed circumstances, the clear path of duty; but it +is impossible if, along with His voice, we let the buzz of the crowd be +audible in our ears. There is only one way by which we can hear what +our 'Lord the King appoints,' and that is by making a great stillness +in our souls, and neither letting our own yelping inclinations give +tongue, nor the babble of men round us, and their notions of life and +of what is right, have influence upon us, but waiting to hear what God +the Lord, speaking in Christ the King, has to say to us. And, remember, +the more rebels there are, the more need for us to be conspicuously +loyal to our King. + +III. Again, this complete yielding of ourselves in practical obedience +and heart submission to command merits and providences is to be +maintained, whatsoever it may lead to in the way of privation and +difficulty. + +It was no holiday vow, made upon some parade day, that these brave +foreigners were bringing to their king now, but it meant 'we are ready +to suffer, starve, fight, lose everything, die if need be, to be true +to thee.' And the very thought of the impending danger elevated the +men's consciousness, and made heroes out of very common people. And +perhaps that is the best effect of our difficulties and sorrows, that +they strike fire sometimes (if they are rightly accepted and used) out +of what seems to be only dead, lumpish matter, and many a Christian +shoots up into a stature of greatness and nobleness in his sorrow, who +was but a very commonplace creature when all things went well with him. +That is the kind of obedience that Christ delights to accept, obedience +that is ready for anything, and does not wait to make sure that there +is no danger of forfeiting a whole skin and a quiet life, before it +vows itself to service. Are we only to be 'fair-weather Christians,' or +are we to be prepared for all the trials and sufferings that may befall +us? A Christianity that does not bring any worldly penalties along with +it is not worth much. Christians of Christ's pattern have generally to +give up something for their Christianity. They give up nothing that it +is not gain to lose, nothing that they are not better without, but they +have to surrender much in which other people find great enjoyment, and +which their weaker selves would delight in too. Are you ready, my +brother, for that? 'Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving +against sin.' The old days of heroism and martyrdom are done with, as +far as we are concerned, whatever may lie in the future. But do we make +willingly and gladly the surrenders and the self-abnegations that are +demanded by our loyalty to our Master? Have we ever learned to say +about any line of action that our poor, lower nature grasps at, and our +higher, enlightened by communion with Jesus Christ, forbids: 'So did +not I because of the fear of the Lord'? We can talk about following +Christ's footsteps; do you think that if we had stood where these rude +soldiers stood, or had anything as dark in prospect, as the price of +our faithfulness to our King, as they had as the price of faithfulness +to theirs, there would have rung from our lips the utterly sincere vow +that sprang joyously from theirs: 'Behold Thy servants, ready to do +whatever our Lord the King shall appoint'? + +IV. A final thought, which travels beyond my text, is that such +thorough-going obedience, irrespective of consequences, is the secret +of all blessedness. + +'Great peace have they which love Thy law': the peace of conscience; +the peace of ceasing from that which is our worst enemy, self-will; the +peace of self-surrender; the peace of feeling ''Tis His to command; +'tis mine to obey'; the peace of casting the whole settling of the +campaign on the King's shoulders, and of finding our duty restricted to +tramping along with cheery heart on the path that He has appointed. +That is worth having. Oh! if we could cease from self and lay our wills +down before Him, then we should be quiet. The tranquil heart is the +heart which has the law of Christ within it, and the true delight of +life belongs to those who truly say, 'I delight to do Thy will.' So +yielding, so obeying, so submitting, so surrendering one's self, life +becomes quiet, and strong, and sweet. And, if I might so turn the story +that we have been considering, the faithful soldiers who have been true +to the King when His throne was contested, will march with laurelled +heads in His triumphant train when He comes back after His final and +complete victory, and reign with Him in the true City of Peace, where +His will shall be perfectly done by loving hearts, and all His servants +shall be kings. + + + + +ITTAI OF GATH + +'And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my +lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, +whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.'--2 +SAMUEL xv. 21. + + +It was the darkest hour in David's life. No more pathetic page is found +in the Old Testament than that which tells the story of his flight +before Absalom. He is crushed by the consciousness that his punishment +is deserved--the bitter fruit of the sin that filled all his later life +with darkness. His courage and his buoyancy have left him. He has no +spirit to make a stand or strike a blow. If Shimei runs along the +hillside abreast of him, shrieking curses as he goes, all he says is: +'Let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.' + + +So, heartbroken and spiritless, he leaves Jerusalem. And as soon as he +has got clear of the city he calls a halt, in order that he may muster +his followers and see on whom he may depend. Foremost among the little +band come six hundred men from Gath--Philistines--from Goliath's city. +These men, singularly enough, the king had chosen as his bodyguard; +perhaps he was not altogether sure of the loyalty of his own subjects, +and possibly felt safer with foreign mercenaries, who could have no +secret leanings to the deposed house of Saul. Be that as it may, the +narrative tells us that these men had 'come after him from Gath.' He +had been there twice in the old days, in his flight from Saul, and the +second visit had extended over something more than a year. Probably +during that period his personal attraction, and his reputation as a +brilliant leader, had led these rough soldiers to attach themselves to +his service, and to be ready to forsake home and kindred in order to +fight beside him. + +At all events here they are, 'faithful among the faithless,' as foreign +soldiers surrounding a king often are--notably, for instance, the +Swiss guard in the French Revolution. Their strong arms might have been +of great use to David, but his generosity cannot think of involving +them in his fall, and so he says to them: 'I am not going to fight; I +have no plan. I am going where I can. You go back and "worship the +rising sun." Absalom will take you and be glad of your help. And as for +me, I thank you for your past loyalty. Mercy and peace be with you!' + +It is a beautiful nature that in the depth of sorrow shrinks from +dragging other people down with itself. Generosity breeds generosity, +and this Philistine captain breaks out into a burst of passionate +devotion, garnished, in soldier fashion, with an unnecessary oath or +two, but ringing very sincere and meaning a great deal. As for himself +and his men, they have chosen their side. Whoever goes, they stay. +Whatever befalls, they stick by David; and if the worst come to the +worst they can all die together, and their corpses lie in firm ranks +round about their dead king. David's heart is touched and warmed by +their outspoken loyalty; he yields and accepts their service. Ittai and +his noble six hundred tramp on, out of our sight, and all their +households behind them. Now what is there in all that, to make a sermon +out of? + +I. First, look at the picture of that Philistine soldier, as teaching +us what grand passionate self-sacrifice may be evolved out of the +roughest natures. + +Analyse his words, and do you not hear, ringing in them, three things, +which are the seed of all nobility and splendour in human character? +First, a passionate personal attachment; then, that love issuing, as +such love always does, in willing sacrifice that recks not for a moment +of personal consequences; that is ready to accept anything for itself +if it can serve the object of its devotion, and will count life well +expended if it is flung away in such a service. And we see, lastly, in +these words a supreme restful delight in the presence of him whom the +heart loves. For Ittai and his men, the one thing needful was to be +beside him in whose eye they had lived, from whose presence they had +caught inspiration; their trusted leader, before whom their souls bowed +down. So then this vehement speech is the pure language of love. + +Now these three things,--a passionate personal attachment, issuing in +spontaneous heroism of self-abandonment, and in supreme satisfaction in +the beloved presence,--may spring up in the rudest, roughest nature. A +Philistine soldier was not a very likely man in whom to find refined +and lofty emotion. He was hard by nature, hardened by his rough trade; +and unconscious that he was doing anything at all heroic or great. +Something had smitten this rock, and out of it there came the pure +refreshing stream. And so I say to you, the weakest and the lowest, the +roughest and the hardest, the most selfishly absorbed man and woman +among us, has lying in him and her dormant capacities for flaming up +into such a splendour of devotion and magnificence of heroic self- +sacrifice as is represented in these words of my text. A mother will do +it for her child, and never think that she has done anything +extraordinary; husbands will do such things for wives; wives for +husbands; friends and lovers for one another. All who know the +sweetness and power of the bond of affection know that there is nothing +more gladsome than to fling oneself away for the sake of those whom we +love. And the capacity for such love and sacrifice lies in all of us. +Prosaic, commonplace people as we are, with no great field on which to +work out our heroisms; yet we have it in us to love and give ourselves +away thus, if once the heart be stirred. + +And lastly, this capacity which lies dormant in all of us, if once it +is roused to action, will make a man blessed and dignified as nothing +else will. The joy of unselfish love is the purest joy that man can +taste; the joy of perfect self-sacrifice is the highest joy that +humanity can possess, and they lie open for us all. + +And wherever, in some humble measure, these emotions of which I have +been speaking are realised, there you see weakness springing up into +strength, and the ignoble into loftiness. Astronomers tell us that +sometimes a star that has shone inconspicuous, and stood low down in +their catalogues as of fifth or sixth magnitude, will all at once flame +out, having kindled and caught fire somehow, and will blaze in the +heavens, outshining Jupiter and Venus. And so some poor, vulgar, narrow +nature, touched by this Promethean fire of pure love that leads to +perfect sacrifice, will 'flame in the forehead of the morning sky' an +undying splendour, and a light for evermore. + +Brethren, my appeal to you is a very plain and simple one, founded on +these facts:--You all have that capacity in you, and you all are +responsible for the use of it. What have you done with it? Is there any +person or thing in this world that has ever been able to lift you up +out of your miserable selves? Is there any magnet that has proved +strong enough to raise you from the low levels along which your life +creeps? Have you ever known the thrill of resolving to become the +bondservant and the slave of some great cause not your own? Or are you, +as so many of you are, like spiders living in the midst of your web, +mainly intent upon what you can catch by it? You have these capacities +slumbering in you. Have you ever set a light to that inert mass of +enthusiasm that lies within you? Have you ever woke up the sleeper? +Look at this rough soldier of my text, and learn from him the lesson +that there is nothing that so ennobles and dignifies a commonplace +nature as enthusiasm for a great cause, or self-sacrificing love for a +worthy heart. + +II. The second remark which I make is this:--These possibilities of +love and sacrifice point plainly to God in Christ as their true object. + +'Whose image and superscription hath it?' said Christ, looking at the +Roman _denarius_ that they brought and laid on His palm. If the +Emperor's head is on it, why, then, he has a right to it as tribute. +And then He went on to say, 'Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things +which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.' So there +are things that have God's image and superscription stamped on them, +and such are our hearts, our whole constitution and nature. As plainly +as the penny had the head of Tiberius on it, and therefore proclaimed +that he was Emperor where it was current, so plainly does every soul +carry in the image of God the witness that He is its owner and that it +should be rendered in tribute to Him. + +And amongst all these marks of a divine possession and a divine +destination printed upon human nature, it seems to me that none is +plainer than this fact, that we can all of us thus give ourselves away +in the abandonment of a profound and all-surrendering love. That +capacity unmistakably proclaims that it is destined to be directed +towards God and to find its rest in Him. As distinctly as some silver +cup, with its owner's initials and arms engraved upon it, declares +itself to be 'meet for the master's use,' so distinctly does your soul, +by reason of this capacity, proclaim that it is meant to be turned to +Him in whom alone all love can find its perfect satisfaction; for whom +alone it is supremely blessed and great to lose life itself; and who +only has authority over human spirits. + +We are made with hearts that need to rest upon an absolute love; we are +made with understandings that need to grasp a pure, a perfect, and, as +I believe, paradoxical though it may sound, a personal Truth. We are +made with wills that crave for an absolute authoritative command, and +we are made with a moral nature that needs a perfect holiness. And we +need all that love, truth, authority, purity, to be gathered into one, +for our misery is that, when we set out to look for treasures, we have +to go into many lands and to many merchants, to buy many goodly pearls. +But we need One of great price, in which all our wealth may be +invested. We need that One to be an undying and perpetual possession. +There is One to whom our love can ever cleave, and fear none of the +sorrows or imperfections that make earthward-turned love a rose with +many a thorn, One for whom it is pure gain to lose ourselves, One who +is plainly the only worthy recipient of the whole love and self- +surrender of the heart. + +That One is God, revealed and brought near to us in Jesus Christ. In +that great Saviour we have a love at once divine and human, we have the +great transcendent instance of love leading to sacrifice. On that love +and sacrifice for us Christ builds His claim on us for our hearts, and +our all. Life alone can communicate life; it is only light that can +diffuse light. It is only love that can kindle love; it is only +sacrifice that can inspire sacrifice. And so He comes to us, and asks +that we should just love Him back again as He has loved us. He first +gives Himself utterly for and to us, and then asks us to give ourselves +wholly to Him. He first yields up His own life, and then He says: 'He +that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.' The object, the true +object, for all this depth of love which lies slumbering in our hearts, +is God in Christ, the Christ that died for us. + +III. And now, lastly, observe that the terrible misdirection of these +capacities is the sin and the misery of the world. + +I will not say that such emotions, even when expended on creatures, are +ever wasted. For however unworthy may be the objects on which they are +lavished, the man himself is the better and the higher for having +cherished them. The mother, when she forgets self in her child, though +her love and self-forgetfulness and self-sacrifice may, in some +respects, be called but an animal instinct, is elevated and ennobled by +the exercise of them. The patriot and the thinker, the philanthropist, +ay! even--although I take him to be the lowest in the scale--the +soldier who, in some cause which he thinks to be a good one, and not +merely in the tigerish madness of the battlefield, throws away his +life--are lifted in the scale of being by their self-abnegation. + +And so I am not going to say that when men love each other passionately +and deeply, and sacrifice themselves for one another, or for some cause +or purpose affecting only temporal matters, the precious elixir of love +is wasted. God forbid! But I do say that all these objects, sweet and +gracious as some of them are, ennobling and elevating as some of them +are, if they are taken apart from God, are insufficient to fill your +hearts: and that if they are slipped in between you and God, as they +often are, then they bring sin and sorrow. + +There is nothing more tragic in this world than the misdirection of +man's capacity for love and sacrifice. It is like the old story in the +Book of Daniel, which tells how the heathen monarch made a great feast, +and when the wine began to inflame the guests, sent for the sacred +vessels taken from the Temple of Jerusalem, that had been used for +Jehovah's worship; and (as the narrative says, with a kind of shudder +at the profanation), 'They brought the golden vessels that were taken +out of the temple of the House of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the +king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them. They +drank wine and praised the gods.' So this heart of mine, which, as I +said, has the Master's initials and His arms engraven upon it, in token +that it is His cup, I too often fill with the poisonous and +intoxicating draught of earthly pleasure and earthly affections; and as +I drink it, the madness goes through my veins, and I praise gods of my +own making instead of Him whom alone I ought to love. + +Ah, brethren! we should be our own rebukers in this matter, and the +heroism of the world should put to shame the cowardice and the +selfishness of the Church. Contrast the depth of your affection for +your household with the tepidity of your love for your Saviour. +Contrast the willingness with which you sacrifice yourself for some +dear one with the grudgingness with which you yield yourselves to Him. +Contrast the rest and the sense of satisfaction in the presence of +those whom you love, and your desolation when they are absent, with the +indifference whether you have Christ beside you or not. And remember +that the measure of your power of loving is the measure of your +obligation to love your Lord; and that if you are all frost to Him and +all fervour to them, then in a very solemn sense 'a man's foes shall be +they of his own household.' 'He that loveth father or mother more than +Me is not worthy of Me.' + +And so let me gather all that I have been saying into the one earnest +beseeching of you that you would bring that power of uncalculating love +and self-sacrificing affection which is in you, and would fasten it +where it ought to fix--on Christ who died on the cross for you. Such a +love will bring blessedness to you. Such a love will ennoble and +dignify your whole nature, and make you a far greater and fairer man or +woman than you ever otherwise could be. Like some little bit of black +carbon put into an electric current, my poor nature will flame into +beauty and radiance when that spark touches it. So love Him and be at +peace; give yourselves to Him and He will give you back yourselves, +ennobled and transfigured by the surrender. Lay yourselves on His +altar, and that altar will sanctify both the giver and the gift. If you +can take this rough Philistine soldier's words in their spirit, and in +a higher sense say, 'Whether I live I live unto the Lord, or whether I +die I die unto the Lord; living or dying, I am the Lord's,' He will let +you enlist in His army; and give you for your marching orders this +command and this hope, 'If any man serve Me let him follow Me; and +where I am there shall also My servant be.' + + + + +THE WAIL OF A BROKEN HEART + +'Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a +pillar, which is in the king's dale; for he said, I have no son to keep +my name in remembrance; and he called the pillar after his own name: +and it is called unto this day, Absalom's Place. 19. Then said Ahimaaz +the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that +the Lord hath avenged him of his enemies. 20. And Joab said unto him. +Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings +another day; but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the +king's son is dead. 21. Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what +thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran. 22 Then +said Ahimaaz the ton of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, +I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou +run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready? 23. But howsoever, +said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the +way of the plain, and overran Cushi. 24. And David sat between the two +gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the +wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running +alone. 25. And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king +said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, +and drew near. 26. And the watchman saw another man running: and the +watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running +alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings. 27. And the +watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the +running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good +man, and cometh with good tidings. 28. And Ahimaaz called, and said +unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face +before the king, and said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath +delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the +king. 29. And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz +answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw +a great tumult, but I knew not what it was. 30. And the king said unto +him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still. +31. And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: +for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up +against thee. 32. And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man +Absalom safe I And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and +all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. +33. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the +gate, and wept; and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom! My son, +my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my +son!--2 SAMUEL xviii. 18-33. + + +The first verse of this passage and the one preceding it give a +striking contrast between the actual and the designed burial-place of +Absalom. The great pit among the sombre trees, where his bloody corpse +was hastily flung, with three darts through his heart, and the rude +cairn piled over it, were a very different grave from the ostentatious +tomb 'in the king's dale,' which he had built to keep his memory green. +This was what all his restless intrigues and unbridled passions and +dazzling hopes had come to. He wanted to be remembered, and he got his +wish; but what a remembrance! That gloomy pit preaches anew the vanity +of 'vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself,' and tells us once more that + + Only the actions of the just + Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.' + +I. The first picture here shows a glimpse of the battlefield, and +brings before us three men, each in different ways exhibiting how small +a thing Absalom's death was to all but the heartbroken father, and each +going his own road, heedless of what lay below the heap of stones. The +world goes on all the same, though death is busy, and some heart- +strings be cracked. The minute details which fill the most part of the +story, lead up to, and throw into prominence, David's burst of agony at +the close. The three men, Ahimaaz, Joab, and the Cushite (Ethiopian), +are types of different kinds of self-engrossment, which is little +touched by others' sorrows. The first, Ahimaaz, the young priest who +had already done good service to David as a spy, is full of the joyous +excitement of victory, and eager to run with what he thinks such good +tidings. The word in verse 19, 'bear tidings,' always implies good +news; and the youthful warrior-priest cannot conceive that the death of +the head of the revolt can darken to the king the joy of victory, He is +truly loyal, but, in his youthful impetuosity and excitement, cannot +sympathise with the desolate father, who sits expectant at Mahanaim. +Right feeling and real affection often fail in sympathy, for want of +putting oneself in another's place; and, with the best intentions, +wound where they mean to cheer. A little imagination; guided by +affection, would have taught Ahimaaz that the messenger who told David +of Absalom's death would thrust a sharper spear into his heart than +Joab had driven into Absalom's. + +Joab is a very different type of indifference. He is too much +accustomed to battle to be much flushed with victory, and has killed +too many men to care much about killing another. He is cool enough to +measure the full effect of the news on David; and though he clearly +discerns the sorrow, has not one grain of participation in it. He has +some liking for Ahimaaz, and so does not wish him to run, but dissuades +him on the ground (verse 22, Revised Version) that he will win no +reward. That is the true spirit of the mercenary, who cannot conceive +of a man taking trouble unless he gets paid for it somehow, and will +fight and kill, all in the way of business, without the least spark of +enthusiasm for a cause. Hard stolidity and brutal carelessness shielded +him from any 'womanish' tenderness. Absalom was dead, and he had killed +him. It was a good thing, for it had put out the fire of revolt. No +doubt David would be sorry, but that mattered little. Only it was +better for the message to go by some one whose fate was of no +consequence. So he picks out 'the Cushite,' probably an Ethiopian +slave; and if David in his anguish should harm him, nobody will be hurt +but a friendless stranger. + +The Cushite gets his orders; and he too is, in another fashion, +careless of their contents and effect. Without a word, he bows himself +to Joab, and runs, as unconcerned as the paper of a letter that may +break a heart. Ahimaaz still pleads to go, and, gaining leave, takes +the road across the Jordan valley, which was probably easier, though +longer; while the other messenger went by the hills, which was a +shorter and rougher road. + +II. The scene shifts to Mahanaim, where David had found refuge. He can +scarcely have failed to take an omen from the name, which commemorated +how another anxious heart had camped there, and been comforted, when it +saw the vision of the encamping angels above its own feeble, undefended +tents, and Jacob 'called the name of that place Mahanaim' (that is, +'Two Camps'). How the change of scene in the narrative helps its +vividness, and makes us share in the strain of expectancy and the +tension of watching the approaching messengers! The king, restless for +news, has come out to the space between the outer and inner gates, and +planted a lookout on the gate-house roof. The sharp eyes see a solitary +figure making for the city, across the plain. David recognises that, +since he is alone, he must be a messenger; and now the question is, +What has he to tell? We see him coming nearer, and share the suspense. +Then the second man appears; and clearly something more had happened, +to require two. What was it? They run fast; but the moments are long +till they arrive. The watchman recognises Ahimaaz by his style of +running; and David wistfully tries to forecast his tidings from his +character. It is a pathetic effort, and reveals how anxiously his heart +was beating. + +As soon as Ahimaaz is within earshot, though panting with running, no +doubt, he shouts, with what breath is left, the one word, 'Peace!' and +then, at David's feet, tells the victory, 'Blessed be the Lord thy +God'; the triumph was Jehovah's gift, and in it He had shown Himself +David's God, and vindicated His servant's trust. But Ahimaaz is more +devout and thankful than David. The king has neither praise and +thankfulness to God nor to man. He has no pleasure in the victory; no +interest in the details of the fight; no thankfulness for a restored +kingdom; no word of eulogium for his soldiers; nothing but devouring +anxiety for his unworthy son. How chilling to Ahimaaz, all flushed with +eagerness, and proud of victory, and panting with running, and hungry +for some word of praise, it must have been, to get for sole answer the +question about Absalom! He shrinks from telling the whole truth, which, +indeed, the Cushite was officially despatched to tell; but his +enigmatic story of a great tumult as he left the field, of which he did +not know the meaning, was meant to prepare for the bitter news. So he +is bid to stand aside, and no words more vouchsafed to him. A cool +reception, unworthy of David! As Ahimaaz stood there, neglected, he +would think that the politic Joab was right after all. + +The Cushite must have been close behind him, for he comes up as soon as +the brief conversation is over. A deeper anxiety must have waited his +tidings; for he must have something more to tell than victory. His +first words add nothing to Ahimaaz's information. What, then, had he +come for? David forebodes evil, and, with the monotony of a man +absorbed in one anxiety, repeats verbatim his former question. Poor +king! He more than half knew the answer, before it was given. The +Cushite with some tenderness veils the fate of Absalom in the wish that +all the king's enemies may be 'as that young man is.' But the veil was +thin, and the attempt to console by reminding of the fact that the dead +man was an enemy as well as a son, was swept away like a straw before +the father's torrent of grief. + +III. The sobs of a broken heart cannot be analysed; and this wail of +almost inarticulate agony, with its infinitely pathetic reiteration, is +too sacred for many words. Grief, even if passionate, is not forbidden +by religion; and David's sensitive poet-nature felt all emotions +keenly. We are meant to weep; else wherefore is there calamity? But +there were elements in David's mourning which were not good. It blinded +him to blessings and to duties. His son was dead; but his rebellion was +dead with him, and that should have been more present to his mind. His +soldiers had fought well, and his first task should have been to honour +and to thank them. He had no right to sink the king in the father, and +Joab's unfeeling remonstrance, which followed, was wise and true in +substance, though rough almost to brutality in tone. Sorrow which sees +none of the blue because of one cloud, however heavy and thunderous, is +sinful. Sorrow which sits with folded hands, like the sisters of +Lazarus, and lets duties drift, that it may indulge in the luxury of +unrestrained tears, is sinful. There is no tone of 'It is the Lord! let +Him do what seemeth Him good,' in this passionate plaint; and so there +is no soothing for the grief. The one consolation lies in submission. +Submissive tears wash the heart clean; rebellious ones blister it. + +David's grief was the bitter fruit of his own sin. He had weakly +indulged Absalom, and had probably spared the rod, in the boy's youth, +as he certainly spared the sword when Absalom had murdered his brother. +His own immorality had loosened the bonds of family purity, and made +him ashamed to punish his children. He had let Absalom flaunt and +swagger and live in luxury, and put no curb on him; and here was the +end of his foolish softness. How many fathers and mothers are the +destroyers of their children to-day in the very same fashion! That +grave in the wood might teach parents how their fatal fondness may end. +Children, too, may learn from David's grief what an unworthy son can do +to stuff his father's pillow with thorns, and to break his heart at +last. + +But there is another side to this grief. It witnesses to the depth and +self-sacrificing energy of a father's love. The dead son's faults are +all forgotten and obliterated by death's 'effacing fingers.' The +headstrong, thankless rebel is, in David's mind, a child again, and the +happy old days of his innocence and love are all that remain in memory. +The prodigal is still a son. The father's love is immortal, and cannot +be turned away by any faults. The father is willing to die for the +disobedient child. Such purity and depth of affection lives in human +hearts. So self-forgetting and incapable of being provoked is an +earthly father's love. May we not see in this disclosure of David's +paternal love, stripping it of its faults and excesses, some dim shadow +of the greater love of God for His prodigals,--a love which cannot be +dammed back or turned away by any sin, and which has found a way to +fulfil David's impossible wish, in that it has given Jesus Christ to +die for His rebellious children, and so made them sharers of His own +kingdom? + + + + +BARZILLAI + +'And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I +should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? 35. I am this day fourscore +years old: and can I discern between good and evil! can thy servant +taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of +singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet +a burden unto my lord the king? 36. Thy servant will go a little way +over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me +with such a reward? 37. Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, +that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my +father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go +over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto +thee.'-2 SAMUEL xix. 34-37. + + +_To the Young._ + +People often fancy that religion is only good to die by, and many +exhortations are addressed to the young, founded on the possibility +that an early death may be their lot. That, no doubt, is a very solemn +consideration, but it is by no means the sole ground on which such an +appeal may or should be rested. To some of you an early death is +destined. To the larger number of you will be granted a life protracted +to middle age, and to some of you silver hair will come, and you may +see your children's children. I wish to win you seriously to look +forward to the life on earth that is before you, and to the end to +which it is likely to come, if you be spared in the world long enough. + +The little picture in these verses is a very beautiful one. David had +been fleeing from his rebellious Absalom, and his adversity had +winnowed his friends. He had crossed the Jordan to the hill-country +beyond, and there, while he was lurking with his crown in peril, and a +price on his head, and old friends dropping from him in their eagerness +to worship the rising sun, this Barzillai with others brought him +seasonable help (xvii. 23), When David returned victorious, Barzillai +met him again. David offered to take him to Jerusalem and to set him in +honour there, The old man answered in the words of our text. + +Now I take them for the sake of the picture of old age which they give +us. Look at them: the intellectual powers are dimmed, all taste for the +pleasures and delights of sense is gone, ambition is dead, capacity for +change is departed. What is left? This old man lives in the past and in +the future; the early child-love of the father and mother who, eighty +years ago, rejoiced over his cradle, remains fresh; he cannot 'any more +hear the voice of the singing men and women,' but he can hear the +tones, clear over all these years, of the dear ones whom he first +learned to love. The furthest past is fresh and vivid, and his heart +and memory are true to it. Also he looks forward familiarly and calmly +to the very near end, and lives with the thought of death. He keeps +house with it now. It is nearer to him than the world of living men. In +memory is half of his being, and in hope is the other half. All his +hopes are now simplified and reduced to _one,_ a hope to die and +be united again with the dear ones whom he had so long remembered. And +so he goes back to his city, and passes out of the record--an example +of a green and good old age. + +Now, young people, is not that picture one to touch your hearts? You +think in your youthful flush of power and interest, that life will go +on for ever as it has begun, and it is all but impossible to get you to +look forward to what life must come to. I want you to learn from that +picture of a calm, bright old age, a lesson or two of what life will +certainly do to you, that I may found on these certainties the old, old +appeal, 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth'. + +I. Life will gradually rob you of your interest in all earthly things. + +Your time of life is full of ebullient feeling, and sees freshness, +glory, and beauty everywhere. Even the least enthusiastic men are +enthusiastic in their early days. You have physical strength, the +keenness of unpalled senses, the delights of new powers, the +blessedness of mere living. All this springs partly from physical +causes, partly from the novelty of your position. Thank God! all young +creatures are happy, and you among the rest. + +Now, I do not ask you to restrain and mortify these things. But I do +ask you to remember the end. It is as certain that joys will pall, it +is as certain that subjects of interest will be exhausted, it is as +certain that powers will decay, as that they now are what they are. All +these grave, middle-aged, careful people round you were like you once. +You, if you live, will be like them. The spring tints are natural, but +they are transient; the blossoms are not always on the fruit-trees. + +Think, then, of the End: to make you thankful; to stimulate you; but +also to lead you to take for your object what will never pall. All +created things go. Only the gospel provides you with a theme which +never becomes stale, with objects which are inexhaustible. + +Here is a lesson for-- + +(a) Thinkers: 'Knowledge, it shall vanish away.' + +(b) Sensualists: 'Man delights me not, nor woman either.' How old was +he who said that? + +(c) Ambitious, self-advancing men. + +Is it worth your while to devote yourself to transient aims? + +Is it congruous with your dignity as immortal souls? + +Is it innocent or guilty? + +Is the gospel not a thing to live by as well as to die by? + +II. Life will certainly rob you of the power to change. + +Barzillai knew that David's court was no place for him; he had been +bred on the mountains of Gilead, and his habits suited only a simple +country life. The court might be better, but he could not fit into it. +But there was his boy Chimham; take him, he was young enough to bend +and mould. + +Now this is true in a far loftier way. I need not dwell on the +universality of this law, how it applies to all manner of men, but I +use it now in reference only to the gospel and your relation to it. You +will never again be so likely to become a Christian, if you let these +early days pass. + +You say, 'I will have my fling, sow my wild oats, will wait a little +longer, and then'--and then what? You will find that it is infinitely +harder to close with Christ than it would have been before. + +While you delay, you are stiffening into the habit of rejection. Custom +is one of our mightiest friends or foes. + +While you delay, you are doing violence to conscience, and so weakening +that to which the gospel appeals. + +While you delay, you are becoming more familiar with the unreceived +message and so weakening the power of the gospel. + +While you delay, you are adding to the long list of your sins. + +While you delay, youth is slipping from you. + +Make a mark with a straw on the clay and it abides; hammer on the brick +with iron and it only breaks. Youth is a brief season. It is the season +for forming habit, for receiving impression, for building up character. +'The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore shall he +beg in harvest and have nothing.' Your present time is seed time. God +forbid that I should say that it is impossible, but I do say that it is +hard, for 'a man to be born again when he is old.' + +If you do become Christ's servant later in life, your whole condition +will be different from what it would have been if you had begun when +young to trust and love Him. Think of the difficulty of rooting out +habits and memories. Think of the horrid familiarity with evil. Think +of the painful contrition for wasted years, which must be theirs who +are hired at the eleventh hour, after standing all the day idle. + +Contrast the experience of him who can say, 'I Thy servant fear God +from my youth,' who has been led by God's mercy from childhood in the +narrow way, who by early faith in Christ has been kept in the slippery +ways of youth. + +Of the one we can but say, 'Is not this a brand plucked from the +burning?' The other is 'innocent of much transgression.' + +I have small hope of changing middle-aged and old men. To you I turn, +you young men and women, you children, and to each of you I say, 'Wilt +thou not from this time say, My Father, Thou art the guide of my +youth?' + +III. Life will certainly deepen your early impressions. + +The old Barzillai dying looks back to his early days. + +So I point the lesson: 'Keep thy heart with all diligence,' and let +your early thoughts be bright and pure ones. + +Remember that you will never find any love like a father's and +mother's. Don't do what will load your memories in after days with +sharp reproaches. + +IV. Life will bring you nearer and nearer to the grave. + +Hope after hope dies out, and there is nothing left but the hope to +die. How beautiful the facing of it so as to become calmly familiar +with it, making it an object of hope, with bright visions of reunion! + +How can such an old age so bright and beautiful be secured? Surely the +one answer is,--by faith in Jesus Christ. + +Think of an old Christian resting, full of years, full of memories, +full of hopes, to whom the stir of the present is nothing, who has come +so near the place where the river falls into the great sea that the +sounds on the banks are unheard. It is calm above the cataract, and +though there be a shock when the stream plunges over the precipice, yet +a rainbow spans the fall, and the river peacefully mingles with the +shoreless, boundless ocean. + +Dear young friends, 'what shall the end be'? It is for yourselves to +settle. Oh, take Christ for your Lord! Then, though so far as regards +the bodily life the 'youths shall faint and be weary,' as regards the +true self the life may be one of growing maturity, and at last you may +'come to the grave as a shock of corn that is fully ripe.' + +Trust, love, and serve Jesus, that thus calm, thus beautiful, may be +your days here below, that if you die young you may die ripe enough for +heaven, and that if God spares you to 'reverence and the silver hairs,' +you may crown a holy life by a peaceful departure, and, sitting in the +antechamber of death, may not grieve for the departure of youth and +strength and buoyancy and activity, knowing that 'they also serve who +only stand and wait,' and then may shake off the clog and hindrance of +old age when you pass into the presence of God, and there, as being the +latest-born of heaven, may more than renew your youth, and may enter on +a life which weariness and decay never afflict, but with which immortal +youth, with its prerogatives of endless hope, of keenest delight, of +unwearying novelty, of boundless joy, abides for evermore. + + + + +DAVID'S HYMN OF VICTORY + +'For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that, rose up +against me hast Thou subdued under me. 41. Thou hast also given me the +necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. 42. They +looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord, but He answered +them not. 43. Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I +did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. +44. Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, Thou +hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall +serve me. 45. Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as +they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. 46. Strangers shall fade +away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. 47. The Lord +liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of +my salvation. 48. It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down +the people under me, 49. And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: +Thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: +Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 50. Therefore I will give +thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises +unto Thy name. 51. He is the tower of salvation for His king; and +sheweth mercy to His anointed, unto David, and to his seed for +evermore.'--2 SAMUEL xxii. 40-51. + + +The Davidic authorship of this great hymn has been admitted even by +critics who are in general too slow to recognise it. One of these says +that 'there is no Israelite king to whom the expressions in the psalm +apply so closely as to David.' The favourite alternative theory that +the speaker is the personified nation is hard to accept. The voice of +individual trust and of personal experience sounds clear in the glowing +words. Two editions of the hymn are preserved for us,--in Psalm xviii. +and 2 Samuel. Slight variations exist in the two copies, which may +probably be merely accidental. Nothing important depends on them. The +text begins with the closing words of a description of God's arming the +singer for his victories, and goes on to paint the tumult of battle and +the rout of the foe (verses 40-43); then follows triumphant expectation +of future wider victories (verses 44-46); and that leads up to the +closing burst of grateful praise (verses 47-51). + +I. We are not to forget that what is described in verses 40-43 is a +literal fight, with real swords against very real enemies. We may draw +lessons of encouragement from it for our conflict with spiritual +wickednesses, but we must not lose sight of the bloody combat with +flesh and blood which the singer had waged. He felt that God had braced +his armour on him, had given him the impenetrable 'shield' which he +wore on his arm, and had strengthened his arms to bend the 'bow of +steel.' We see him in swift pursuit, pressing hard on the flying foe, +crushing them with his fierce charge, trampling them under foot. 'I did +beat them small as the dust of the earth.' His blows fell like those of +a great pestle, pulverising some substance in a mortar. 'I did stamp +them as the mire of the streets,'--a vivid picture of trampling down +the prostrate wretches, for which Psalm xviii. gives the less +picturesque variant, 'did cast them out.' In their despair the +fugitives shriek aloud for God's help, and the Psalmist has a stern joy +in knowing their cries to be unheard. + +Now, such delight in an enemy's despair and destruction, such +gratification at the vanity of his prayers, are far away from being +Christian sentiments, and the gulf is not wholly bridged by the +consideration that David felt himself to be God's Anointed, and enmity +to him to be, consequently, treason against God. His feelings were most +natural and entirely consistent with the stage of revelation in which +he lived. They were capable of being purified into that triumph in the +victory of good and the ruin of evil without which there is no vigorous +sympathy with Christ's conflict. They kindle, by their splendid energy +and condensed rapidity, an answering glow even in readers so far away +from the scene as we are. But still they do belong to a lower level of +feeling, and result from a less full revelation than belongs to +Christianity. The light of battle which blazes in them is not the fire +which Jesus longed to kindle on earth. + +But we may well take a pattern from the stern soldier's recognition +that all his victory was due to God alone. The strength that he put +forth was God's gift. It was God who subdued the insurgents, not David. +The panic which made the foe take to flight was infused into them by +God. No name but Jehovah's was to be carved on the trophy reared on the +battlefield. The human victor was but the instrument of the divine +Conqueror. Such lowly reference of all our power and success to Him +will save us from overweening self-adulation, and is the surest way to +retain the power which He gives, and which is lost most surely when we +take the credit of it to ourselves. + +II. The enemies thus far have been from among his own subjects, but in +verses 44-46 a transition is made to victory over 'strangers'; that is, +foreign nations. The triumph over 'the strivings of my people' heartens +the singer to expect that he will be' head of the nations.' The other +version of the hymn (Psalm xviii.) reads simply '_the_ people.' + +The picture of hasty surrender 'as soon as they hear of me' is graphic. +His very name conquers. 'The strangers shall submit themselves unto me' +is literally 'shall lie,' or yield feigned obedience. They 'fade away' +as if withered by the hot wind of the desert. 'They shall come limping' +(as the word here used signifies), as if wounded in the fight, for +which Psalm xviii. reads 'trembling.' + +Now this vision of extended conquests, based as it is on past smaller +victories, carries valuable lessons. David here lays hold of the great +promises to his house of a wide dominion, and expects the beginnings of +their fulfilment to himself. And he _did_ extend his conquests +beyond the territory of Israel. But we may take the hope as an instance +in a particular direction of what should be the issue of all experience +of God's mercies. 'To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more +abundant.' Smaller victories will be followed by greater. Our reception +of God's favouring help should widen our anticipations. Our gratitude +to Him should be 'a lively sense of favours to come.' Progressive +victory should be the experience of every believer. + +We may see, too, dimly apparent through the large hope of the Psalmist- +King, the prophecy of the worldwide victories of his Son, in whom the +great promises of a dominion 'from sea to sea, and from the river unto +the ends of the earth,' are fulfilled. + +III. Verses 46-51 make a noble close to a noble hymn, in which the +singer's strong wing never flags, nor the rush of thought and feeling +ever slackens. In it, even more absolutely than in the rest of the +psalm, his victory is all ascribed to Jehovah. He alone acts, David +simply receives. To have learned by experience that' He lives,' and is +'my Rock,' and to gather all the feelings excited by the retrospect of +a long life into 'Blessed be my Rock,' is to have reaped and garnered +the richest harvest which earth can yield. So at last sings the man +whose early years had been full of struggles and privations. A morning +of tempest has cleared into sunny evening calm, as it will with us all +if the tempest blows us into our true shelter. + +This psalm begins with a rapturous heaping together of the precious +names of God, as the singer has had them revealed to him by experience. +Foremost among these stands that one, 'my Rock,' which is caught up +again in this closing burst of thanksgiving. That great Rock towers +unchangeable above fleeting things. The river runs past its base, the +woods nestling at its feet bud, and shed their pride of foliage, but it +stands the same. David had many a time hid in 'the clefts of the rocks' +in his years of wandering, and the figure is eloquent on his lips. + +These closing strains gather together once more the main points of the +previous verses, his deliverance from domestic foes, and his conquests +over external enemies. These are wholly God's work. True thankfulness +delights to repeat its acknowledgments. God does not weary of giving, +we should not weary of praising the Giver and His gifts. We renew our +enjoyment of our long-past mercies by reiterating our thankfulness for +them. They do not die as long as gratitude keeps their remembrance +green. + +But the Psalmist's experience impels him to a vow (verse 50). He will +give thanks to God among the nations. God's mercies bind, and, if +rightly felt, will joyfully impel, the receiver to spread His name as +far as his voice can reach. Love is sometimes silent, but gratitude +must speak. The most unmusical voice is tuned to melody by God's great +blessings received and appreciated, and they need never want a theme +who can tell what the Lord has done for their souls. 'Then shall... the +tongue of the dumb sing.' A dumb Christian is a monstrosity. We are +'the secretaries of His praise,' and have been saved ourselves that we +may declare His goodness. + +Verse 51 has been supposed by some to be a liturgical addition, on the +ground that, if David were the author, he would not be likely to name +himself thus. But there does not seem to be anything unnatural in his +mentioning himself by name in such a connection, and the reference to +his dynasty, based as it is on Nathan's promise, is most fitting. The +last thought about his mercies which the humble gratitude of the +Psalmist utters is that they were not given to him for any good in +himself, nor to be selfishly enjoyed, but that they were bestowed on +him because of the place that he filled in the divine purposes, and +belonged to 'his seed' as truly as to himself. So lowly had his +prosperity made him. So truly had he sunk himself in his office, and in +the great things that God meant to do through him and his house. We +know better than David did what these were, and how the promise on +which he rested his hopes of the duration of his house is fulfilled in +his Son, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and who bears God's +name to all the nations. + + + + +THE DYING KING'S LAST VISION AND PSALM + +'Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and +the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, +and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2. The Spirit of the Lord spake +by me, and His word was in my tongue. 3. The God of Israel said, the +Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, +ruling in the fear of God. 4. And he shall be as the light of the +morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the +tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 5. +Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an +everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all +my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow. 6. +But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, +because they cannot be taken with hands: 7. But the man that shall +touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they +shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.'--2 SAMUEL xxiii, +1-7. + + +It was fitting that 'the last words of David' should be a prophecy of +the true King, whom his own failures and sins, no less than his +consecration and victories, had taught him to expect. His dying eyes +see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of Him who is to be a +just and perfect Ruler, before the brightness of whose presence and the +refreshing of whose influence, verdure and beauty shall clothe the +world. As the shades gather round the dying monarch, the radiant glory +to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from +afar, and stretched out longing hands of greeting toward it. Then his +harp is silent, as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings +had snapped them. + +1. We have first a prelude extending to the middle of verse 3. In it +there is first a fourfold designation of the personality of the +Psalmist-prophet, and then a fourfold designation of the divine oracle +spoken through him. The word rendered in verse 1 'saith' is really a +noun, and usually employed with 'the Lord' following, as in the +familiar phrase 'saith the Lord.' It is used, as here, with the +genitive of the human recipient, in Balaam's prophecy, on which this is +evidently modelled. It distinctly claims a divine source for the oracle +following, and declares, at the outset, that these last words of David +were really the faithful sayings of Jehovah. The human and divine +elements are smelted together. Note the description of the human +personality. First, the natural 'David the son of Jesse,' like 'Balaam +the son of Beor' in the earlier oracle. The aged king looks back with +adoring thankfulness to his early days and humble birth, as if he were +saying, 'Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this +grace given, that I should proclaim the coming King.' Then follow three +clauses descriptive of what 'the son of Jesse' had been made by the +grace of God, in that he had been raised on high from his low condition +of a shepherd boy, and anointed as ruler, not only by Samuel and the +people, but by the God of their great ancestor, whose career had +presented so many points of resemblance to his own, the God who still +wrought among the nation which bore the patriarch's name, as He had +wrought of old; and that, besides his royalty, he had been taught to +sing the sweet songs which already were the heritage of the nation. +This last designation shows what David counted God's chief gift to +him,--not his crown, but his harp. It further shows that he regarded +his psalms as divinely inspired, and it proves that already they had +become the property of the nation. This first verse heightens the +importance of the subsequent oracle by dwelling on the claims of the +recipient of the revelation to be heard and heeded. + +Similarly, the fourfold designation of the divine source has the same +purpose, and corresponds with the four clauses of verse 1, 'The Spirit +of the Lord spake in [or "into"] me.' That gives the Psalmist's +consciousness that in his prophecy he was but the recipient of a +message. It wonderfully describes the penetrating power of that inward +voice which clearly came to him from without, and as clearly spoke to +him within. Words could not more plainly declare the prophetic +consciousness of the distinction between himself and the Voice which he +heard in the depths of his spirit. It spoke in him before he spoke his +lyric prophecy. 'His word was upon my tongue.' There we have the +utterance succeeding the inward voice, and the guarantee that the +Psalmist's word was a true transcript of the inward voice. 'The God of +Israel said,' and therefore Israel is concerned in the divine word, +which is not of private reference, but meant for all. 'The Rock of +Israel spake,' and therefore Israel may trust the Word, which rests on +His immutable faithfulness and eternal being. + +II. The divine oracle thus solemnly introduced and guaranteed must be +worthy of such a prelude. Abruptly, and in clauses without verbs, the +picture of the righteous Ruler is divinely flashed before the seer's +inward eye. The broken construction may perhaps indicate that he is +describing what he beholds in vision. There is no need for any +supplement such as 'There shall be,' which, however true in meaning, +mars the vividness of the presentation of the Ruler to the prophet's +sight. David sees him painted on the else blank wall of the future. +When and where the realisation may be he knows not. What are the +majestic outlines? A universal sovereign over collective humanity, +righteous and God-fearing. In the same manner as he described the +vision of the King, David goes on, as a man on some height telling what +he saw to the people below, and paints the blessed issues of the King's +coming. + +It had been night before He came,--the night of ignorance, sorrow, and +sin,--but His coming is like one of these glorious Eastern sunrises +without a cloud, when everything laughs in the early beams, and, with +tropical swiftness, the tender herbage bursts from the ground, as born +from the dazzling brightness and the fertilising rain. So all things +shall rejoice in the reign of the King, and humanity be productive, +under His glad and quickening influences, of growths of beauty and +fruitfulness impossible to it without these. + +The abrupt form of the prophecy has led some interpreters to construe +it as, 'When a king over men is righteous... then it is as a morning,' +etc. But surely such a platitude is not worthy of being David's last +word, nor did it need divine inspiration to disclose to him that a just +king is a great blessing. The only worthy meaning is that which sees +here, in words so solemnly marked as a special revelation closing the +life of David, 'the vision of the future and all the wonder that should +be,' when a real Person should thus reign over men. The explanation +that we have here simply the ideal of the collective Davidic monarchy +is a lame attempt to escape from the recognition of prophecy properly +so called. It is the work of poetry to paint ideals, of prophecy to +foretell, with God's authority, their realisation. The picture here is +too radiant to be realised in any mere human king, and, as a matter of +fact, never was so in any of David's successors, or in the whole of +them put together. It either swings _in vacuo,_ a dream unrealised, +or it is a distinct prophecy from God of the reign of the coming +Messiah, of whom David and all his sons, as anointed kings, were +living prophecies. 'The Messianic idea entered on a new stage of +development with the monarchy, and that not as if the history +stimulated men's imaginations, but that God used the history as a means +of further revelation by His prophetic Spirit. + +III. The difficult verse 5, whether its first and last clauses be taken +interrogatively or negatively, in its central part bases the assurance +of the coming of the king on God's covenant (2 Samuel vii.), which is +glorified as being everlasting, provided with all requisites for its +realisation, and therefore 'sure,' or perhaps 'preserved,' as if +guarded by God's inviolable sanctity and faithfulness. The fulfilment +of the dying saint's hopes depends on God's truth. Whatever sense might +say, or doubt whisper, he silences them by gazing on that great Word. +So we all have to do. If we found our hopes and forecasts on it, we can +go down to the grave calmly, though they be not fulfilled, sure that +'no good thing can fail us of all that He hath spoken.' Living or +dying, faith and hope must stay themselves on God's word. Happy they +whose closing eyes see the form of the King, and whose last thoughts +are of God's faithful promise! Happy they whose forecasts of the +future, nearer or more remote, are shaped by His word! Happy they who, +in the triumphant energy of such a faith, can with dying lips proclaim +that His promises overlap, and contain, all their salvation and all +their desire! + +If we read the first and last clauses negatively, with Revised Version +and others, they, as it were, surround the kernel of clear-eyed faith, +in the middle of the verse, with a husk, not of doubt, but of +consciousness how far the present is from fulfilling the great promise. +The poor dying king looks back on the scandals of his later reign, on +his own sin, on his children's lust, rebellion, and tragic deaths, and +feels how far from the ideal he and they have been. He sees little +token of growth toward realisation of that promise; but yet in spite of +a stained past and a wintry present, he holds fast his confidence. That +is the true temper of faith, which calls things that are not as though +they were, and is hindered by no sense of unworthiness nor by any +discouragements born of sense, from grasping with full assurance the +promise of God. But the consensus of the most careful expositors +inclines to take both clauses as questions, and then the meaning would +be, 'Does not my house stand in such a relation to God that the +righteous king will spring from it? It is, in this view, a triumphant +question, expressing the strongest assurance, and the next clause would +then lay bare the foundation of that relation of David's house as not +its goodness, but God's covenant ('_for_ He hath made'). Similarly +the last clause would be a triumphant question of certainty, asserting +in the strongest manner that God would cause that future salvation for +the world, which was wrapped up in the coming of the king, and in which +the dying man was sure that he should somehow have a share, dead though +he were, to blossom and grow, though he had to die as in the winter, +before the buds began to swell. The assurance of immortality, and of a +share in all the blessings to come, bursts from the lips that are so +soon to be silent. + +IV. But the oracle cannot end with painting only blessings as flowing +from the king's reign. If he is to rule in righteousness and the fear +of the Lord, then he must fight against evil. If his coming causes the +tender grass to spring, it will quicken ugly growths too. The former +representation is only half the truth; and the threatening of +destruction for the evil is as much a part of the divine oracle as the +other. Strictly, it is 'wickedness'--the abstract quality rather than +the concrete persons who embody it--which is spoken of. May we recall +the old distinction that God loves the sinner while He hates the sin? +The picture is vivid. The wicked--and all the enemies of this King are +wicked, in the prophet's view--are like some of these thorn-brakes, +that cannot be laid hold of, even to root them out, but need to be +attacked with sharp pruning-hooks on long shafts, or burned where they +grow. There is a destructive side to the coming of the King, shadowed +in every prophecy of him, and brought emphatically to prominence in his +own descriptions of his reign and its final issues. It is a poor +kindness to suppress that side of the truth. Thorns as well as tender +grass spring up in the quickening beams; and the best commentary on the +solemn words which close David's closing song is the saying of the King +himself: 'In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather +up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.' + + + + +THE ROYAL JUBILEE +[Footnote: Preached on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond +Jubilee.] + +'... He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. +4. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, +even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the +earth, by clear shining after rain.'--2 SAMUEL xxiii. 3, 4. + + +One of the Psalms ascribed to David sounds like the resolves of a new +monarch on his accession. In it the Psalmist draws the ideal of a king, +and says such things as, 'I will behave myself wisely, in a perfect +way. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of +them that turn aside. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, +that they may dwell with me.' That psalm we may regard as the first +words of the king when, after long, weary years, the promise of +Samuel's anointing was fulfilled, and he sat on the throne. + +My text comes from what purports to be the last words of the same king. + +He looks back, and again the ideal of a monarch rises before him. The +psalm, for it is a psalm, though it is not in the Psalter, is +compressed to the verge of obscurity; and there may be many questions +raised about its translation and its bearing. These do not need to +occupy us now, but the words which I have selected for my text may, +perhaps, best be represented to an English reader in some such sentence +as this--'If (or when) one rules over men justly, ruling in the fear of +God, then it shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, +even a morning without clouds.' With such a monarch all the interests +of his people will prosper. His reign will be like the radiant dawn of +a cloudless day, and his land like the spring pastures when the fresh, +green grass is wooed out of the baked earth by the combined influence +of rain and sunshine. David's little kingdom was surrounded by giant +empires, in which brute force, wielded by despotic will, ground men +down, or squandered their lives recklessly. But the King of Israel had +learned, partly by the experience of his own reign, and partly by +divine inspiration, that such rulers are not true types of a monarch +after God's own heart. This ideal king is neither a warrior nor a +despot. Two qualities mark him, Justice and Godliness. Pharaoh and his +like, oppressors, were as the lightning which blasts and scorches. The +true king was to be as the sunshine that vitalises and gladdens. 'He +shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that +water the earth.' + +We do not need to ask the question here, though it might be very +relevant on another occasion, whether this portraiture is a mere ideal, +floating _in vacuo,_ or whether it is a direct prophecy of that +expected Messianic king who was to realise the divine ideal of +sovereignty. At all events we know that, in its highest and deepest +significance, the picture of my text has lived and breathed human +breath, in Jesus Christ, who both in His character and in His influence +on the world, fulfilled the ideal that floated before the eyes of the +aged king. + +I do not need to follow the course of thought in this psalm any +farther. You will have anticipated my motive for selecting this text +now. It seems to me to gather up, in vivid and picturesque form, the +thoughts and feelings which to-day are thrilling through an Empire, to +which the most extended dominion of these warrior kings of old was but +a speck. On such an occasion as this I need not make any apology, I am +sure, for diverging from the ordinary topics of pulpit address, and +associating ourselves with the many millions who to-day are giving +thanks for Queen Victoria. + +My text suggests two lines along which the course of our thoughts may +run. The one is the personal character of this ideal monarch; the other +is its effects on his subjects. + +I. Now, with regard to the former, the pulpit is, in my judgment, not +the place either for the discussion of current events or the +pronouncing of personal eulogiums. But I shall not be wandering beyond +my legitimate province, if I venture to try to gather into a few words +the reasons, in the character and public life of our Queen, for the +thankfulness of this day. Our text brings out, as I have said, two +great qualities as those on which a throne is to be established, +Justice and Godliness. Now, the ancient type of monarch was the +fountain of justice, in a very direct sense; inasmuch as it was his +office, not only to pronounce sentence on criminals, but to give +decisions on disputed questions of right. These functions have long +ceased to be exercised by our monarchs, but there is still room for +both of those qualities--the Justice which holds an even balance +between parties and strifes, the Righteousness which has supreme regard +to the primary duties that press alike upon prince and pauper, and the +Godliness which, as I believe, is the root from which all +righteousness, as between man and man, and as between prince and +subject, must ever flow. Morality is the garb of religion; religion is +the root of morality. He, and only he, will hold an even balance and +discharge his obligations to man, whose life is rooted in, and his acts +under the continual influence of, the fear of God which has in it no +torment, but is the parent of all things good. + +We shall not be flatterers if we thankfully recognise in our Sovereign +Lady the presence of both these qualities. I have spoken of the first +inaugural words of the King of Israel, and the resolutions that he +made. It is recorded that when, to the child of eleven years of age, +the announcement was made that she stood near in the line of succession +to the throne, the tremulous young lips answered, 'It is a great +responsibility; but I will be good.' And all round the world to-day her +subjects attest that the aged monarch has kept the little maiden's vow. +Contrast that life with the lives of the other women who have sat on +the throne of England. Think of the brilliant Queen, whose glories our +greatest poets were not ashamed to sing, with the Tudor masterfulness +in her, and not a little of the Tudor grossness and passion, and +remember the blots that stained her glories. Think of her sister, the +morbidly melancholy tool of priests, who goes down the ages branded +with an epithet only too sadly earned. Think of another woman that +ruled over England in name, the weak instrument of base intrigues. And +then turn to this life which we are looking upon to-day. Think of the +nameless scandals, the hideous immorality of the reigns that preceded +hers, and you will not wonder that every decent man and every modest +woman was thankful that, with the young girl, there came a breath of +purer air into the foul atmosphere. I am old enough to remember +hearing, as a boy, the talk of my elders as to the probabilities of +insurrection if, instead of our Queen, there had come to the throne the +brother of her two predecessors. The hopes of those early days have +been more than fulfilled. + + +It is not for us to determine the religious character of others, and +that is too sacred a region for us to enter; but this we may say, that +in all these sixty years of diversified trial, there has been no act +known to us outsiders inconsistent with the highest motive, the fear of +the Lord; and some of us who have worshipped in the humble Highland +church where she has bowed have felt that on the throne of Britain sat +a Christian. + +Nor need we forget how, from that root of fear of God, there has come +that wondrous patience and faithfulness to duty, the form of 'Justice' +which is possible for a constitutional monarch. We have little notion +of how pressing and numerous and continual the royal duties must +necessarily be. They have been discharged, even when the blow that +struck all sunshine out of life left an irrepressible shrinking from +pageantry and pomp. Joys come; joys go. Duties abide, and they have +been done. + +Nor can we forget, either, how the very difficult position of a +constitutional monarch, with the semblance of power and the reality of +narrow restrictions, has been filled. Our Sovereign has never set +herself against the will of the people, expressed by its legitimate +representatives, even when that will may have imposed upon her the +sanction of changes which she did not approve. And that is much to say. +We have seen young despots whose self-will has threatened to wreck a +nation's prosperity. + +Nor can we forget how all the immense influence of position and +personality has been thrown on the side of purity and righteousness. +Even we outsiders know how, more than once or twice, she has +steadfastly set her face against the admission to her presence of men +and women of evil repute, and has in effect repeated David's +proclamation against vice and immorality at his accession: 'He that +worketh wickedness shall not dwell within my house.' + +Nor must we forget, either, the simplicity, the beauty, the tenderness +of her wedded and family life, her love of rural quiet, and of +wholesome communion with Nature, and her eagerness to take her people +into her confidence, as set forth in the book which, whatever its +literary merits, speaks of her earnest appreciation of Nature and her +wish for the sympathy of her subjects. + +Then came the bolt from the blue, that sudden crash that wrecked the +happiness of a life. Many of us, I have no doubt, remember that dreary +December Sunday morning when, while the nation was standing in +expectation of another calamity from across the Atlantic, there flashed +through the land the news of the Prince's death; thrilling all hearts, +and bringing all nearer to her, the lonely widow, than they had ever +been in her days of radiant happiness. How pathetically, silently, +nobly, devoutly, that sorrow has been borne, it is not for us to speak. +She has become one of the great company of sad and lonely hearts, and +in her sadness has shown an eager desire to send messages of sympathy +to all whom she could reach, who were in like darkness and sorrow. + +Brethren, I have ventured to diverge so far from the ordinary run of +pulpit ministrations because I feel that to-day all of us, whatever may +be our political or ecclesiastical relationships and proclivities, are +one in thanking God for the monarch whose life has been without a +stain, and her reign without a blot. + +II. Now let me say a word as to the other line of thought which my text +suggests, the effect of such a reign on the condition of the subject. + +Now, of course, in the narrowly limited domain of that strange +creation, a constitutional monarchy, there is far less opportunity for +the Sovereign's direct influence on the Subject than there was in the +ancient kingdoms of which David was thinking in his psalm. The +marvellous progress of Britain during these sixty years is due, not to +our Sovereign, but to a multitude of strenuous workers and earnest +thinkers in a hundred different departments, as well as to the +evolution of the gifts that come down to us from our ancient +inheritance of freedom. But we shall much mistake if, for that reason, +we set aside the monarch's character and influence as of no account in +the progress, + +A supposition, which is a violent one, may be made which will set this +matter in clearer light. Suppose that during these sixty years we had +had a king on the throne of England like some of the kings we have had. +The sentiment of loyalty is not now of such a character as that it will +survive a vicious sovereign. If we had had such a monarch as I have +hinted at, the loyalty of the good would for all these years have been +suffering a severe strain, and the forces that make for evil would have +been disastrously strengthened. Dangers escaped are unnoticed, but one +twelvemonth of the reign of a profligate would shake the foundations of +the monarchy, and would open the floodgates of vice; and we should then +know how much the nation owed to the Queen whose life was pure, and who +cast all her influence on the side of 'things that are lovely and of +good report.' + +Take another supposition. Suppose that during these years of wonderful +transition, when the whole aspect of English politics and society has +been transformed, we had had a king like George III., who set his +opinion against the nation's will constitutionally expressed. Then no +man knows with what storm and tumult, with what strife and injury, the +inevitable transition would have been effected. Be sure of this, that +the wise self-effacement of our Sovereign during these critical years +of change is largely the reason why they have been years of peace, in +which the new has mingled itself with the old without revolution or +disturbance. It is due to her in a very large degree that + 'Freedom broadens slowly down + From precedent to precedent.' + +I need not dilate on the changed Britain that she looks out upon and +rules to-day. I need not speak--there will be many voices to do that, +in not altogether agreeable notes, for there will be a dash of too much +self-complacency in them--about progress in material wealth, colonial +expansion, the increase of education, the gentler manners, the new life +that has been breathed over art and literature, the achievements in +science and philosophy, the drawing together of classes, the bridging +over of the great gulf between rich and poor by some incipient and +tentative attempts at sympathy and brotherhood. + +Nor need I dwell upon the ecclesiastical signs of the times, in which, +mingled as they are, there is at least this one great good, that never +since the early days have so large a proportion of Christian men been +'seeking after the things that make for peace,' and realising the +oneness of all believers who hold the Headship of Christ. + +All this review falls more properly into other hands than mine. Only I +would put in a caution--do not let us mingle self-conceit with our +congratulations; and, above all, do not let us 'rest and be thankful.' +There is much to be done yet. Listening ears can catch on every side +vague sounds that tell of unrest and of the stirrings into wakefulness +of + 'The spirit of the years to come, + Yearning to mix itself with life.' + +I seem to hear all around me the rushing in the dark of a mighty +current that is bearing down upon us. Great social questions are +rapidly coming to the front--the questions of distribution of wealth, +abolition of privilege, the relations of labour and capital, and many +others are clamant to be dealt with at least, if not solved. There Is +much to be done before Jesus Christ is throned as King of England. War +has to be frowned down; the brotherhood of man has to be realised, +temperance has to be much more largely practised than it is. + +I need not go over the catalogue of _desiderata,_ of +_agenda_--things that have to be done--in the near future. Only +this I would say--Christian men and women are the last people who +should be ready to 'rest and be thankful,' for the principles of the +Gospel that we profess, which have never been applied to the life of +nations as they ought to be, will solve the questions which make the +despair of so many in this generation. We shall best express our +thankfulness for these past sixty years by each of us taking our part +in the great movement which, in the inevitable drift of things to +democracy, is going to 'cast the kingdom old into another mould,' and +which will, I pray, make our people more of what John Milton long ago +called them, 'God's Englishmen.' We have taught the nations many +things. Our Parliament is called the Mother of Parliaments. Ours is + 'The land where, girt with friends or foes, + A man may say the thing he will.' + +It has taught the nations a tempered freedom, and that a monarchy may +be a true republic. May we rise to the height of our privileges and +responsibilities, and teach our subject peoples, not only mechanics, +science, law, free trade, but a loftier morality, and the name of Him +by whom kings reign and princes decree justice! + +We, members of the free Churches of England, come seldom under the +notice of royalty, and have little acquaintance with courts, but we +yield to none in our recognition of the virtues and in our sympathy +with the sorrows of the Sovereign Lady, the good woman, who rules these +lands, and we all heartily thank God for her to-day, and pray that for +long years still to come the familiar letters V.R. may stand, as they +have stood to two generations, as the symbol of womanly purity and of +the faithful discharge of queenly duty. + + + + +A LIBATION TO JEHOVAH + +'And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the +water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16. And the +three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew +water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it +and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but +poured it out unto the Lord. 17. And he said, Be it far from me, O +Lord, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went +in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These +things did these three mighty men.'--2 SAMUEL xxiii. 15-17. + + +David's fortunes were at a low ebb. He was in hiding in his cave of +Adullam, and a Philistine garrison held Bethlehem, his native place. He +was little different from an outlaw at the head of a band of 'broken +men,' but there were depths of chivalry and poetry in his heart. +Sweltering in his cave in the fierce heat of harvest, he thought of his +native Bethlehem; he remembered the old days when he had watered his +flock at the well by its gate, or mingled with the people of the little +town, in their evening assemblies round it. The memories of boyhood +rose up radiant before him, and as he was immersed in the past, the +grim present, the perils that threatened his life, the savage, gaunt +rocks without a trace of greenness that girded him, the privations to +which he was exposed, were all forgotten, and he longed for one more +draught of the water that tasted so cool and sweet to memory. Three of +his 'mighty men,' bound to him by loyal devotion and unselfish love, +were ready to die to win for their chief a momentary gratification. So +they slipped away from Adullam, 'brake through the host of the +Philistines,' and brought back the longed-for draught. David's +reception of the dearly-bought, sparkling gift was due to a noble +impulse. The water seemed to him to be dyed with blood, and to be not +water so much as 'lives of men.' It had become too precious to be used +to satisfy his longing. It would be base self-indulgence to drink what +had been won by such self-forgetting devotion. God only had the right +to receive what men had risked their lives to obtain, and therefore he +'poured it out unto the Lord.' + +The story gleams out of the fierce narratives in which it is embedded, +like a flower blooming on some grim cliff. May we not learn lessons +from it? + +I. David's longing. + +David, a fugitive in the cave, haunted by the 'nostalgia' that made +Bethlehem seem so fair and dear, may stand for us as an example of the +longings and thirsts that sometimes force themselves into consciousness +in every soul. Below the bustle and strife of daily life, occupied as +it must be with material and often ignoble things, below the hardness +into which the world has compressed men's surface nature, there lies a +yearning for the cool water that rises hard by the gate of our native +home. True, it is with many of us overlaid for the most part by coarser +desires, and may be as unlike our usual dominant longings and aims, as +David's tender outbreak of sentiment was to the prevailing tenor of his +life, in those days when he was an outlaw and a freebooter. But the +longing, though often stifled, is not wholly quenched. It is +misinterpreted by the man who is conscious of it, and far too often he +tries to slake the thirst by fiery and drugged liquors which but make +it more intense. Happy are they who know what it is that their parched +palates crave, and have learned, while yet the knowledge avails, to +say, 'My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God'! 'Blessed are they +who thirst after' the water of the well of Bethlehem, 'for they shall +be filled!' + +II. The three heroes' devotion. + +These three rough soldiers, lawless and fierce as they were, had been +so mastered by their chief that they were ready to dare anything to +pleasure him. Who would have looked for such delicacy of feeling and +such enthusiastic self-surrender in such men? + +They stand as grand instances of the height of devotion of which the +rudest nature is capable, when once its love and loyalty to the Beloved +are evoked. + +How such deeds ennoble the lowest types of character, and make us think +better of men, and more sadly of the contrast between their habitual +characteristics and the possibilities that lie slumbering in their +ignoble lives! There are sparks in the hard cold flint, if only they +could be struck out. There is water in the rock, if only the right +hand, armed with the wonder-working rod, smites it. + + +Let us not judge men too harshly by what they do and are, but let us +try to bring their sleeping possibilities into conscious exercise. + +Let us remember that love and self-sacrifice, which is the very outcome +and natural voice of love, ennoble the most degraded. + +But these heroic three may suggest to us a sadder thought. They were +ready to die for David; would they have been as ready to die for God? +These noble emotions of love, leading to glad flinging away of life to +pleasure the beloved, are freely given to men, but too often withheld +from God, We lavish on our beloveds or on our chosen leaders, a +devotion that ought to shame us, when contrasted with the scantiness of +our grudging devotion and self-surrender to Him. If we loved God a +tenth part as ardently as we love our wives or husbands or parents or +children, and were willing to do and bear as much for Him as we are +willing to bear for them, how different our lives would be! We can love +utterly, enthusiastically, self-forget-tingly, absorbed in the beloved, +and counting all surrender of self to, and the sacrifice of life itself +for, him or her a delight. Many of us do love men so. Do we love God +so? + +But these heroic three may suggest another thought. Their self- +sacrificing love was illustrious; but there is a nobler, more +wonderful, more soul-subduing instance of such love. They broke through +the ranks of the Philistines to bring David a draught from the well of +Bethlehem. Jesus has broken through the ranks of our enemies to bring +us the water of which 'if a man drink, he shall live for ever.' If we +would see the highest example of self-sacrificing love, we must turn to +look, not on the instances of it that shine through the ages on the +page of history, and make men thrill as they gaze, and think better of +the human nature that can do such things, but on the Christ hanging on +the Cross because He loved those who did not love Him, and giving His +life a ransom for sinners. + + +III. David's reception of the water. + +The chivalrous devotion of the three touched an answering chord in +their chivalrous chief. His heart filled at the thought of what they +had risked, and revolted from employing what had been thus won for no +higher use than to gratify a piece of sentiment in himself. The +sparkling water was too sacred to be taken for any baser use than as a +libation to Jehovah. And who can doubt that the three were more fully +repaid for their devotion, as David poured it out unto the Lord, than +if he had drunk it eagerly up? His feeling and his act indicate +beautiful delicacy of instinct, and swiftness of perception of how to +requite the devotion of the three. + +We may separate into its two parts the generous impulse which sprang as +one whole in David's breast. There was the shrinking from using the +water to slake his thirst merely, and there was the resolve to pour it +out as a libation to God. Both parts of that whole may yield us +profitable thoughts. + +To risk their lives for the water was noble in the three; to have +quaffed it as if it had been drawn like any other water from a well, +would have been ignoble in David. There are things that it may be noble +to give and ignoble to accept. There are sacrifices which we are not +entitled to allow others to make for our sakes. Gratifications which +can only be procured at the hazard of men's lives are too dearly +bought. + +Would not a civilisation, that draws much of its comforts and +appliances from 'sweated industries,' and is languidly amused by seeing +men and women performers peril their lives nightly, and lose them too, +for its gratification, be the better for copying David's recoil from +drinking 'the blood of men that went in jeopardy of their lives'? Is +there not 'blood' on many a woman's ball-dress, on many an article of +luxury, on many an amusement? + +There are sacrifices which we have no right to accept from others. The +three had no right to risk life for such a purpose, and David would +have been selfish if he had drunk the water. Do not such thoughts lead +us by contrast to Him who has done what none other can do? 'None of +them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give his life a ransom +for him'; but Jesus can and Jesus does, and what it would be +impossible, and wrong if it were possible, for one man to do for +another, He has done for us all, and what it would be base for a man to +accept from another if that other could give it, it is blessed and the +beginning of all nobleness of character for us to accept from Him. +David would not drink because the cup seemed to him to be red with +blood. Jesus offers to us a cup, not of cold water only but of 'water +and blood,' and bids us drink of it and remember Him. + +The generous devotion of the three kindled answering emotions in +David's breast. It would be a churlish soul that was not warmed into +some faint replica of such self-sacrifice, and most of us would be +ashamed of ourselves if we were unmoved by such love. But does the +supreme example of it affect us as much as the lesser examples of it +do? How many of us stand before it like the peaks of the Alps that +front full south, and lift an unmelted breastplate of snow to the +midday sun! How many of us have lived all our lives in presence of +Jesus' infinite love and self-surrender for us each, and never have +felt one transient touch of answering love! + +The other part of David's impulse was to offer to God what was too +precious for his own use. That is the fitting destination of our most +precious and prized possessions. And whatever is thus offered becomes +more precious by being offered. The altar sanctifies and enhances the +worth of the gift. What we give to God is more our own than if we had +kept it to ourselves, and develops richer capacities of ministering to +our delight. It is so with our greatest surrender, the surrender of +ourselves. When we give ourselves to Jesus, He renders us back to +ourselves, far better worth having than before. We are never so much +our own as when we are wholly Christ's. And the same thing is true as +to all our riches of mind, heart, or worldly wealth. If we wish to +taste their most delicate and refined sweetness, let us give them to +Jesus, and the touch of His hand, as He accepts them and gives them +back to us, will leave a lingering fragrance that nothing else can +impart. Was not the water from the well of Bethlehem sweeter to David +as he poured it out unto the Lord than if he had greedily gulped it +down? + + + + +THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS + + + + +DAVID APPOINTING SOLOMON + +'Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came +into the king's presence, and stood before the king. 29. And the king +sware, and said, As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of +all distress, 30. Even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, +saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall +sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. +31. Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence +to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever. 32. And +king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and +Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33. The +king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and +cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to +Gihon: 34. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him +there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save +king Solomon. 35. Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and +sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have +appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36. And Benaiah +the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen; the Lord God of +my lord the king say so too. 37. As the Lord hath been with my lord the +king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the +throne of my lord king David. 38. So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the +prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the +Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's +mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39. And Zadok the priest took an horn +of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the +trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.'--1 KINGS i. +28-39. + + +The earlier part of this chapter must be taken into account in order to +get the right view of this incident. David's eldest surviving son, +Adonijah, had claimed the succession, and gathered his partisans to a +feast. Nathan, alarmed at the prospect of such a successor, had +arranged with Bathsheba that she should go to David and ask his public +confirmation of his promise to her that Solomon should succeed him, and +that then Nathan should seek an audience while she was with the king, +and, as independently, should prefer the same request. + +The plan was carried out, and here we see its results. The old king was +roused to a flash of his ancient vigour, confirmed his oath to +Bathsheba, and promptly cut the ground from under Adonijah's feet by +sending for the three who had remained true to him--Nathan, Benaiah, +and Zadok--and despatching them without a moment's delay to proclaim +Solomon king, and then to bring him up to the palace and enthrone him. +The swift execution of these decisive orders, and the burst of popular +acclamation which welcomed Solomon's accession, shattered the nascent +conspiracy, and its supporters scattered in haste, to preserve their +lives. The story may be best dealt with, for our purpose, by taking +this brief summary and trying to draw lessons from it. + +I. It points anew the truth that 'whatsoever a man soweth, that shall +he also reap.' As Absalom, so Adonijah, had been spoiled by David's +over-indulgence (verse 6), and having never had his wishes checked, was +now letting his unbridled wishes hurry him into rebellion. Nor was that +fault of David's the only one which brought about the miserable +squabbles round his deathbed, as to who should wear the crown which had +not yet fallen from his head. Eastern monarchies are familiar with +struggles for the crown between the sons of different mothers when +their father dies. David had indulged in a multitude of wives, and his +last days were darkened by the resulting intrigues of his sons. No +doubt, too, Solomon was disliked by his brethren as the child of +Bathsheba, and the shame of David's crime was an obstacle in his +younger son's way. Thus, as ever, his evil deeds came home to roost, +and the poisonous seed which he had sown grew up and waved, a bitter +harvest, which he had to reap. Repentance and forgiveness did not +neutralise the natural consequences of his sin. Nor will they do so for +us. God often leaves them to be experienced, that the experience may +make us hate the sins the more. + +II. The sad defection to Adonijah of such tried friends as Joab and +Abiathar has its lesson. The reason for Joab's treachery is plain. He +had been steadily drifting away from David for years. His fierce temper +could not brook the king's displeasure on account of his murders of +Abner and Amasa, and his slaying of Absalom had made the breach +irreparable. No doubt, David had made him feel that he loved and +trusted him no longer; and his old comrade in many a fight, Benaiah, +had stepped into the place which he had once filled. Professional +rivalry had darkened into bitter bate. Joab commanded the native-born +Israelites; Benaiah, the 'Cherethites and Pelethites,' who are now +generally regarded as foreign mercenaries. They were David's bodyguard, +and were probably as heartily hated by Joab and the other Israelite +soldiers as they were trusted by David. So there were reasons enough +for Joab's abetting an insurrection which would again make him the +foremost soldier. He wanted to be indispensable, and would prop the +throne as long as its occupant looked only to him as its defender. +Besides, he probably felt that he would have little chance of winning +distinction in a kingdom which was to be a peaceful one. + +Abiathar's motives are unexplained, but if we notice that he had been +obliged to acquiesce in the irregular arrangement of putting the high- +priest's office into commission, we can understand that he bore no +goodwill to Zadok, his colleague, or to David for making the latter so. +Self was at the bottom of these two renegades' action. The fair +fellowship, which had been made the closer because of dangers and +privations faced together, crumbled away before the disintegrating +influences of petty personal jealousies. When once self-regard gets in, +it is like the trickle of water in the cracks of a rock, which freezes +in winter and splits the hardest stone. No common action for a great +cause is possible without the suppression of sidelong looks towards +private advantage. Joab and Abiathar tarnished a life's devotion and +broke sacred bonds, because they thought of themselves rather than of +God's will. Surely they must have had some pangs as they sat at +Adonijah's feast, when they thought of the decrepit old king lying in +his chamber up on Zion, and remembered what he and they had come +through together. + +III. We may note the pathetic picture of decaying old age which is seen +in David. He was not very old in years, being about seventy, but he was +a worn-out man. His early hardships had told on him, and now he lay in +the inner chamber, the shadow of himself. His love for Bathsheba had +died down, as would appear both from her demeanour before him, and from +her ignorance of his intentions as to his successor. She was little or +nothing to him now. He seems to have been torpidly unaware of what was +going on. The noise of Adonijah's revels had not disturbed his quiet. +He had not even taken the trouble to designate his successor, though +'the eyes of all Israel were upon him that he should tell who was to +sit on his throne after him' (v. 20). Such neglect was criminal in the +circumstances, and brings out forcibly the weary indifference which had +crept over him. Contrast that picture with the early days of swift +energy and eager interest in all things. Is this half-comatose old man +the David who flashed like a meteor and struck swift as a thunderbolt +but a few years before? Yes, and a like collapse of power befalls us +all, if life is prolonged. Those who most need the lesson will be least +touched by it; but let not the young glory in their strength, for it +soon fades away; and let them give the vigour of their early days to +God, that, when the years come in which they shall say, 'I have no +pleasure in them,' they may be able, like David, to look back over a +long life and say, with him, that the Lord 'hath redeemed my soul out +of all adversity.' + +IV. We note the flash of fire which blazed up in the dying embers of +David's life. The old lion could be roused yet, and could strike when +roused. It took much to shake him out of his torpor. Nathan's plan of +bringing the double influence of Bathsheba and himself to bear was +successful beyond what he had hoped. All that they desired was a formal +declaration of Solomon as successor. They knew that the king's name was +still dear enough to all Israel to ensure that his wish would settle +the succession; and they would have been content to have left the +actual entrance of Solomon on office till after David's death, so sure +were they that his word was still a spell. But the old king, shaking +off his languor, as a lion does the drops from his mane, goes beyond +their wishes, and strikes one decisive blow as with a great paw, and no +second is needed. Without a moment's delay, he sends for the trusty +three, and bids them act on the instant. So down to Gihon goes the +procession, with the youthful prince seated on his father's mule, in +token of his accession, the trusty bodyguard round him with Benaiah at +their head, and the great prophet Nathan, side by side with the high- +priest Zadok, representing the divine sanction of the solemn act. + +It would take stronger men than the spoiled Adonijah and his revellers +to upset anything which that determined company resolved to do. The lad +is anointed with the holy oil which Zadok as high-priest had the right +to bring forth from the temporary sanctuary. That signified and +effected the communication from above of qualifications for the kingly +office, and indicated divine appointment. Then out blared the trumpets, +and the glad people shouted 'God save the king!' What thoughts filled +the young heart of Solomon as he stood silent there his vision in +Gibeon may partly tell. But the distant roar of acclaim reached +Adonijah and his gang as they sat at their too hasty banquet. + +They had begun at the wrong end. The feast should have closed, not +inaugurated, the dash for the crown. They who feast when they should +fight are likely to end their mirth with sorrow. David's one stroke was +enough. They were as sure as Nathan and Bathsheba had been that the +declaration of his wish would carry all Israel with it, and so they saw +that the game was up, and there was a rush for dear life. The empty +banqueting-hall proclaimed the collapse of a rebellion which had no +brains to guide it, and no reason to justify it. Let us learn that, +though 'the race is not always to the swift,' promptitude of action, +when we are sure of God's will, is usually a condition of success. Life +is too short, and the work to be done too pressing and great, to allow +of dawdling. 'I made haste, and delayed not, but made haste to keep Thy +commandments.' Let us learn, too, from Adonijah's fiasco, to see the +end of a thing before we commit ourselves to it, and to have the work +done first before we think of the feast. + +Nathan and Bathsheba and David all believed that God had willed +Solomon's succeeding to the throne. No doubt, the reason for their +belief was the divine word to David through Nathan (2 Samuel vii. 12), +which designated a son not yet born as his successor, and therefore +excluded Adonijah as well as Absalom. But, while they believed this, +they did not therefore let Adonijah work his will, and leave God to +carry out His purposes. Their belief animated their action. They knew +what God willed, and therefore they worked strenuously to effect that +will. We may bewilder our brains with speculations about the relation +between God's sovereignty and man's freedom, but, when it comes to +practical work, we have to put out the best and most that is in us to +prevent God's will from being thwarted by rebellious men, and to ensure +its being carried into effect through our efforts, 'for we are God's +fellow-workers.' + + + + +A YOUNG MAN'S WISE CHOICE OP WISDOM + +'In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God +said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed +unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked +before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart +with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou +hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7. And +now, O Lord my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my +father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come +in. 8. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast +chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for +multitude. 9. Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to +judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is +able to judge this Thy so great a people? 10. And the speech pleased +the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11. And God said unto him, +Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long +life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of +thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern +judgment; 12. Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have +given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none +like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto +thee. 13. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, +both riches and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings +like unto thee all thy days. 14. And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to +keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk, +then I will lengthen thy days. 15. And Solomon awoke; and, behold, It +was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the +covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace +offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.'--1 KINGS iii. 5-15. + + +The new king was apparently some nineteen or twenty years old on his +accession. He stepped at once out of seclusion and idleness to bear the +whole weight of the kingdom. The glories of David's reign, his brother +Adonijah's pretensions to the crown, the smouldering hostility of +Saul's old partisans, made his position difficult and his throne +unsteady. No doubt, 'the weight of too much dignity' pressed on the +youth, and this dream found a point of origin in his waking thoughts. +God does not thus reveal Himself to men who seek Him not; and the offer +in the vision is but the repetition of what Solomon felt in many a +waking moment of meditation that God was saying to him, and the choice +he makes in it is the choice that he had already made. He who seeks +wisdom first is already wise. + +I. Note the wide possibilities opened by the divine offer. Our +narrative brings that gracious offer into connection with Solomon's +lavish sacrifice before the Tabernacle at Gibeon. 'God loveth a +cheerful giver' and because these thousand burnt offerings meant +devotion and thankfulness, therefore He who lets no man be the poorer +for what he gives to Him, and is honoured most, not by our givings to, +but by our takings from Him, comes in the quiet night, and puts the key +of all His treasures into the young king's hands. In a very real sense +this divine voice is but the putting into words of the fact as to every +young life. The all but boundless possibilities before every young man +and woman give solemnity to their position, which they too often do not +recognise till youth is past. The future lies blank before them, ready +to receive what they choose to write on its page. Once written, it is +indelible. They are still free from the limitations of habit and +associations. They have still the capacity and the opportunity of +choice. There are limits, of course, but still it is scarcely +exaggeration to say that a man may become almost anything he likes, if +he strongly wills it when young, and sticks to his resolve. When the +liquid iron flows from the blast furnace, it may be run into any mould; +but it soon cools and hardens, and obstinately keeps its shape, in +spite of hammers. + +If young men and women could but see the possibilities of their youth, +and the issues that hang on early choice, as clearly as they will see +them some day, there would be fewer wasted mornings of life and fewer +gloomy sunsets. But the misery is that so many do not choose at all, +but just let things slide, and allow themselves to be moulded by +whatever influence happens to be strongest. For one man who goes wrong +by deliberate choice, with open eyes, there are twenty who simply +drift. Unfortunately, there is more evil than good in the world; and if +a lad takes his colour from his surroundings, the chances are terribly +against his coming to anything high, noble, or pure. This world is no +place for a man who cannot say 'No.' If we are like the weeds in a +stream, and let it decide which way we shall point, we shall be sure to +point downwards. It would do much to secure the choice of the Good, if +there were a clear recognition by all young persons of the fact that +they have the choice to make, and are really making it unconsciously. +If they could be brought, like Solomon, to put their ruling wish into +plain words, many who are not ashamed to yield to unworthy desires +would be ashamed to speak them out baldly. Let each ask himself, +'Suppose that I had to say out what I want most, dare I avow before my +own conscience, to say nothing of God, what it is? + +Looked at from a somewhat different point of view, God's offer to +Solomon presupposes God's knowledge and approval of his wishes. He does +not give blank cheques to those whom He cannot trust to fill them up +rightly. When James and John tried to commit Jesus to a blind promise +'that Thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of Thee,' their +answer was a question as to what they wished. 'Delight thyself also in +the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.' God loves +us too well to let us have _carte blanche_ unless our wills run +parallel with His. He is a foolish and cruel father who promises +compliance with all his child's unknown wishes. Not such is our +Father's loving discipline. It is to those who 'abide in Christ,' and +have Him abiding in them, moulding their longings and prayers, that the +great promise is sealed: 'Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be +done unto you.' + +II. Note next the wise choice of wisdom. 'Had not Solomon been wise +before, he had not known the worth of wisdom. The dunghill cocks of +this world cannot know the price of this pearl; those that have it know +that all other excellencies are but trash and rubbish unto it.' +Solomon's prayer shows the temper with which he entered on his reign. +There is no exultation; his serious and clear-eyed spirit sees in rule +a heavy task. He contrasts his inexperienced rawness with the 'truth +and righteousness' and veteran maturity of his great predecessor, and +trembles to think that he, a mere lad, sits on David's throne. But he +pleads with God that He has made him king, and implies that therefore +God is bound to fit him for his office. That is the boldness permitted +to faith,--to remind God of His own past acts, which pledge Him to give +what He has put us into circumstances to need. With beautiful humility, +Solomon dwells on his youth and inexperience, and on the vastness of +the charge laid on him. All these considerations are the motives for +his choice of a gift, and also pleas with God to grant his request. + +He asks for the practical wisdom needed for ruling in these old days, +when the king was judge as well as ruler and captain. Was this the +highest gift that he could have asked or received? Surely the deep +longings of his father for communion with God were yet better. No doubt +the 'wisdom' of the Book of Proverbs is religion and morality as well +as true thinking, but the 'understanding heart to judge Thy people' +which Solomon asked and received is narrower and more secular in its +meaning. There is no sign in his biography that he ever had the deep +inward devotion of his father. After the poet-psalmist came the prosaic +and keen-sighted shrewd man of affairs. The one breathed his ardent +soul into psalms, which feed devotion to-day; the other crystallised +his discernment in 'three thousand proverbs,' and, though his 'songs +were one thousand and five' they touched a lower range, both of poetry +and religious feeling, than his father's, as may be expressed by +calling them 'songs,' not 'psalms.' + +But though the request is not the highest, it may well be taken as a +pattern by the young. Note the view of his position from which it +rises. To Solomon dignity meant duty; and his crown was not a toy, but +a task. The responsibilities, not the enjoyments, of his station were +uppermost in his mind. That is the only right view to take. Youth is +meant to be enthusiastic, and to feed its aspirations on noble ideals, +and if, instead of that, it does as too many do, especially in +countries where wealth abounds, namely, regards life as a garden of +delights, or sometimes as a sty where young men may wallow in +'pleasures,' then farewell to all hopes of high achievements or of an +honourable career. Youthful ideals will fade fast enough; but alas for +the life which had none to begin with! Note the sense of insufficiency +for his task. Youth is prone to be over-confident, and to think that it +can do better than its fathers, who were as confident in their time. +There is a false humility which flattens the spirit and keeps from +plain duty; and there is a true lowliness which feels that the task +must be attempted, though the heart may shrink, and which impels to +prayer for fitness not its own. He who tells God his consciousness of +impotence, and asks Him to supply His strength to its weakness and His +wisdom to its inexperience, will never shirk work because it is too +great, nor ever fail to find power according to his need. + +III. Note God's answer. Solomon gets his wish, and much which he had +not asked besides. The divine answer is in two parts. First, the +reasons for the large gift; and second, the details of the gift. His +not wishing material good was the very reason why he obtained it. That +is not always so; for often enough a man whose whole nature is +sharpened to one point, in the intensity of his desire to make money, +will succeed. But what then? He will be none the better, but the +poorer, for his wealth. But this is always true,--that the people who +do not make worldly good their first object are the people who can be +most safely trusted with it, and who get most enjoyment out of it. +Whether in the precise form of the gift to Solomon or not, outward good +does attend a life which sets duty before pleasure, and desires most to +be able to do it. All earthly good is exalted by being put second, and +degraded as well as corrupted by being put first. The water lapped up +in the palm, as the soldier marches, is sweeter than the abundant +draughts swilled down by self-indulgence. 'Seek ye first the kingdom of +God, ... and all these things shall be added unto you.' + +Note the largeness of the gift. When God is pleased with a man's +prayers, He gives more than was asked, and so teaches us to be ashamed +of the smallness of our expectations, and widens our desires by His +overlapping bestowments. First, He gives the wisdom asked. Dependence +on God, rising from the sense of our own ignorance, has a wonderful +power of bringing illumination, even as to small matters of practical +duty. Solomon asked it, to guide him in his judicial decisions; and the +first case to which it was applied, when received, was a miserable +quarrel between two disreputable women. A devout heart, purged from +self-conceit, is often gifted with a piercing wisdom before which the +crafty shrewdness of the world is abashed. We cannot be 'wise as +serpents' unless we are 'harmless as doves.' The world may think such +'wisdom' folly, but she will be 'justified of her children.' Is the +saying of James's Epistle a reminiscence of Solomon's dream, 'If any of +you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, ... and it shall be given him'? + +Then follows the grant of the unasked goods,--riches, honour, and +length of days. Surely we hear an echo of these promises in that +magnificent description of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: 'Length of +days is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour' +These and similar gifts may or may not follow our choice of divine +wisdom as our truest good If we have really chosen it, we shall regard +them as make-weights, to be thankfully received and rightly used, but +not as indispensable. If we pursue wisdom for the sake of getting +these, we shall lose both it and them. If we have set our desires most +earnestly on the most worthy things, which are God's love and a +character hallowed by His grace, we shall be rich indeed, whether what +the world calls wealth be ours or no; and our days will be long enough +if in them we have been prepared for the fuller wisdom and undying life +of heaven. + +Solomon realised his youthful aspirations. The only way to be sure of +getting what we wish, is to wish what God desires to give,--even +Himself,--and to ask it of Him. Solomon, like many a young man, outgrew +his early 'dream.' Was he happier or wiser when he was a worn-out +voluptuary, smiling with cynical scorn at his young self, or when, with +generous enthusiasm, he felt the solemnity of life and the awfulness of +duty, and asked God to help his insufficiency? Was not the dream truer +and more real than the waking hours of profligacy and unreal +'enjoyment'? + + + + +THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS + +'And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under +his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26. +And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and +twelve thousand horsemen. 27. And those officers provided victual for +king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every +man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28. Barley also and straw for +the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the +officers were, every man according to his charge. 29. And God gave +Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of +heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30. And Solomon's +wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and +all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan +the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and +his fame was in all nations round about. 32. And he spake three +thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 33. And he +spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the +hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of +fowl and of creeping things, and of fishes. 34. And there came of all +people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, +which had heard of his wisdom.'--1 KINGS iv. 25-34 + + +The glories of Solomon's reign kindle the writer of this Book of Kings +to patriotic enthusiasm, all the more touching if, as is probable, he +wrote during Israel's exile. The fair vision of the past would make the +sad present still sadder. But it is not patriotism only which guides +his pen; he recognises that Solomon's glory was the result of Solomon's +religion, and by portraying it he would teach the eternal truth that +godliness hath 'promise of the life that now is' as well as 'of that +which is to come.' The passage brings out three characteristics of +Solomon's reign and character: the peace enjoyed by Israel during his +time, his wealth, and his wisdom. + +I. That beautiful phrase for a time of secure enjoyment of modest, +material good in a simple state of agricultural society, 'dwelt safely, +every man under his vine and under his fig tree' occurs frequently in +the Old Testament, and breathes the very essence of a calm life of +rural felicity and restful enjoyment of wholesome joys. How different +from the feverish ideal predominant in our great cities to-day! Which +is the nobler and the more likely to yield abiding content and to be +the ally of high and serious thought--this antique picture of +leisurely, unambitious lives, or the scramble for wealth which destroys +repose, and is so busy getting that it has no time either rightly to +enjoy, or nobly to expend, its wealth? Those who have their country's +truest prosperity at heart may well sigh for the return of the vanished +ideal of Solomon's days; and those who would make the most of +themselves must in some measure seek to conform their own lives to it. + +But another view may be taken of this picture of national prosperity. +Remember the time at which it was painted,--a time when the prosperity +of a nation was thought to consist in conquest, and when the arts of +peace were despised. How far beyond his era was the king who set his +highest glory in securing for his people tranquil lives on their +fertile homesteads, and condemned the vulgar glory of the conqueror! +How far beyond his era was the writer who felt that the fairest page in +his book was not that which told of battles and triumphs, but that +which portrayed a peaceful reign, when swords were turned into +ploughshares! The world has not yet learned that the highest function +of government is to promote individual prosperity. The vulgar, wicked +notion of 'glory' bewitches the nations still. A Europe, armed to the +teeth and staggering under the weight of its weapons, has need to go to +school to this old Hebrew ideal. 'They didn't know everything down in +Judee,' but they knew that peace has nobler victories than war has. The +people who see nothing in the world's history but natural evolution +have a hard nut to crack in accounting for the singular fact that the +Jew somehow or other had got hold of a truth to which the most advanced +nations to-day have scarcely grown up. + +II. The wealth of Solomon is illustrated by his large equipment of +chariots and horsemen. The older habits of the nation had not favoured +the use of either, and their employment by Solomon was a sign of +growing luxury, which had the seeds of evil in it. But the novelty was +characteristic of the change coming over Israel in his day, and of its +closer intercourse with other nations. The number of forty thousand for +the stalls of the horses is an evident clerical error, which is +corrected in the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles ix. 25 to the more +probable number of four thousand. A well-organised staff looked after +provisioning the cavalry and chariot horses wherever they were +quartered. This one instance of Solomon's resources should be connected +with the other details of these. The intention of all is, not only to +magnify his wealth, but to bring out the fulfilment of the promise made +to him as part of the reward of his prayer for wisdom, that he should +have the inferior good which he had not asked, 'both riches and +honour.' + +The principle which the writer of this book would confirm and exemplify +is, that to the man who seeks first the kingdom of God and His +righteousness all these things shall be added. Now the whole order of +supernatural providences in the Old Testament was directed to making +material prosperity depend on obedience to God. And we cannot assert +that the New Testament order has the same purpose in view. 'Prosperity +was the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the +New.' But even in Old Testament times outward prosperity did not always +follow godliness, and the problem which has tortured all generations +had already been raised, as the Book of Job and Psalm lxxiii show. + +Undoubtedly, religion does contribute to prosperity. The natural +tendency of the course of life which Christianity enjoins is to lead to +moderate, modest success in a worldly point of view. Not many +millionaires owe their millions to the practice of Christian virtues, +but many a man owes his elevation from poverty to modest competence to +the character and habits which his religion has stamped on him. People +who get converted in the slums soon get out of the slums. + +But, whether Christianity helps a man to worldly success or not, it +helps him to get all the good out of the world that the world can give. +It may, or may not, give dainties, but it will make brown bread sweet. +It may, or may not, give wealth, but it will make the 'little that a +righteous man hath better than the riches of many wicked.' They who +know no higher good than earth can yield know not the highest good of +earth; they who put worldly prosperity and treasure second find them +far more precious and sweet than when they ranked them as first. + +III. But the crown of Solomon's gifts was his wisdom. And his elevation +of intellectual and moral endowments above material good is as +remarkable as his similar elevation of peace above warlike fame, and +suggests the same questions as to the source of ideas so far ahead of +what was then the world's point of view. Observe that Solomon's +'wisdom' in all its departments is traced to God its giver. Observe, +too, that expression 'largeness of heart,' by which is meant, not width +of quick sympathy or generosity, but what we should call comprehensive +intellect. The 'heart' is the centre of the personal being, from which +thoughts as well as affections flow, and the phrase here points to +thoughts rather than to affections. + +Solomon, then, was a many-sided student, and his 'genius' showed itself +in very various forms. He lived before the days of specialists. The +region of knowledge was so limited that a man could be master in many +departments. Nowadays the mass has become so unmanageable that, to know +one subject thoroughly, we have to be ignorant of many, like the +scholar who had given his life to the study of the Greek noun, and, +dying, lamented that he had not confined himself to the dative case! +Practical wisdom, which had its field In doing justice between his +subjects; shrewd observation of life, with wit to discern resemblances +and to put wisdom into homely, short sayings; poetic sensibility and +the gift of melodious speech; and, added to these manifold endowments, +interest in, and rudimentary knowledge of, natural history and botany, +make the points specified as Solomon's wisdom. + +'A man so various that he seemed to be +Not one, but all mankind's epitome,'-- + +the first and greatest of the few students or philosophers who have sat +on thrones. + +But the main thing to notice is that in Solomon we see exemplified the +normal relation between religion and intellectual power and learning. +Judge, artist, scientist, and all other thinkers and students, draw +their power from God, and should use it for Him. And, on the other +hand, Solomon's example is a rebuke to those narrow-minded Christians +who look askance at men of learning, letters, or science, as well as to +those still more narrow-minded men of intellectual ability who think +that science and religion must be sworn foes. If our religion is what +it should be, it will widen our understanding all round. + +'Let knowledge grow from more to more, +But more of reverence in us dwell.' + + + + +GREAT PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT WORK + +'And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had +heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for +Hiram was ever a lover of David. 2. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, +3. Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto +the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every +side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4. But now +the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is +neither adversary nor evil occurrent. 6. And, behold, I purpose to +build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto +David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in +thy room, he shall build an house unto My name. 6. Now therefore +command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my +servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for +thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest +that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto +the Sidonians. 7. And. it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of +Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this +day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. 8. +And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which +thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber +of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. 9. My servants shall bring them +down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats +unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be +discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt +accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. 10. So Hiram +gave Solomon cedar trees, and fir trees, according to all his desire. +11. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, for food +to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to +Hiram year by year. 12. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He +promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they +two made a league together.--1 KINGS v. 1-12. + + +The building of the Temple was begun in the fourth year of Solomon's +reign (1 Kings vi. 1). The preparations for so great a work must have +taken much time, so that the arrangement with Hiram recorded in this +passage was probably made very early in the reign. That probability is +strengthened if we suppose, as we must do, that the embassy from Hiram +mentioned in verse I was sent to congratulate Solomon on his accession. +If so, the latter's proposal to get timber and stones from the Lebanon +would be made at the very commencement of the reign. Three years would +not be more than enough to get the material ready and transported. +Great designs need long preparation. Raw haste wastes time; +deliberation is as needful before beginning as rapid action is when we +have begun. + +I. Verses 3-5 set forth very forcibly the motives which impelled the +young king to the work, and may suggest to us the motives which should +urge us to diligence in building a better temple than he reared. He +begins by reference to his father's foiled wish, and to the reason why +David could not build the house. Not only was it inappropriate that a +warlike king should build it, but it was impossible that, whilst his +thoughts were occupied and his resources taxed by war, he should devote +himself to such a work. In Assyria and Egypt the great warrior kings +are the great temple-builders, but a divine decorum forbade it to be so +in Israel. + +Solomon next thankfully describes his own happier circumstances. +Observe his designation of Jehovah in verse 4 as 'my God,' and compare +with verse 3, where He is called David's God. The son had inherited the +divine protection and the father's sense of personal relation to +Jehovah. That is a better legacy than a throne. Well had it been for +Solomon if he had held by the faith of his first days of royalty! Such +a sense of a personal bond of love protecting on the one hand, and love +trusting and obeying on the other, is the spring of all true service of +God, whether it is busied in temple-building or in anything else. + +We note also the grateful recognition of benefits received, and the +tracing of peace and outward prosperity to God's care. There was not a +cloud in the sky. The horizon was clear all round, and it was 'the Lord +my God,' who had made this ease for Solomon. We are often more ready to +recognise God's hand in sorrows than in joys. When He smites, we try to +say 'It is the Lord!' Do we try to say it when all things are smooth +and bright? + +The effect of blessings should be thankfulness, and the proof of +thankfulness is service. So Solomon did not take prosperity as an +inducement to selfish luxurious repose, but heard in it God's call to a +great task. If all the rich men and all the leisurely women who call +themselves Christians would do likewise, there would be plenty of +workers and of resources for Christ's service, which now sorely lacks +both. How many of such 'lay up treasure for themselves, and are not +rich toward God'! How many fritter away their leisure in vanities, +having time for any amusement or folly, but none for Christian service! + +The man whom Jesus called 'Thou fool!' not the wise king, is the +pattern for a sad number of professing Christians. 'Thou hast much +goods laid up for many years.' What then? 'I purpose to build an house +for the name of the Lord'? By no means. 'I will build greater barns, +and that will give me something to do, and then I will take mine ease.' + +We note, too, that Solomon was impelled to his great work by the +knowledge that God had appointed him to do it. The divine word +concerning himself, spoken to his father, sounded in his ears, and gave +him no rest till he had set about obeying it (v. 5). The motives of the +great temple-builders of old, as they themselves expound them in +hieroglyphics and cuneiform, were largely ostentation and the wish to +outdo predecessors; but Solomon was moved by thankfulness and by +obedience to his father's will, and still more, to God's destination of +him. If we would look at our positions and blessings as he looked at +his in the fair dawning of his reign, we should find abundant +indications of God's will regarding our work. + +Solomon uses a remarkable expression as to the purpose of the Temple. +It is to be 'an house for the _name_ of the Lord.' That is not the +same as 'for the Lord.' Pagan temples might be intended by their +builders for the actual residence of the god, but Solomon knew that the +heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he +was about to build. We are fairly entitled, then, to lay stress on that +phrase, 'the Name.' It means the whole self-revelation of God, or, +rather, the character of God as made known by that self-revelation. + +The Temple was, then, to be the place in which the God who fills earth +and heaven was to manifest Himself, and where His servants were to +behold and reverence Him as manifested. The Shechinah was the symbol, +and in one aspect was a part, of that self-revelation. However, in +common speech the Temple was spoken of as the house of Jehovah. The +same thought which is expressed in Solomon's fuller phrase underlay the +expression,--_He_ dwelt 'not in temples made with hands' but His +_name_ was set there, and the structure was reared, not so much +for Him as that worshippers might there meet Him. + +II. The rest of the passage deals with Solomon's request to Hiram, and +the preparation of the material for the Temple. Solomon's first care +was to secure timber and stone. His own dominions can never have been +well wooded, and there are many indications that the great central knot +of mountainous land, which included the greater part of his kingdom, +was comparatively treeless. He therefore proposed to Hiram to supply +timber from the great woods on Lebanon, which have now nearly died out, +and offered liberal payment. + +The parallel account in 2 Chronicles makes Solomon offer specified +quantities of provisions for Hiram's workmen, and makes Hiram accept +the terms. Verse 11 of this chapter says that the provisions named +there were for the Tyrian king's 'household.' This may possibly mean +the workmen, who would be regarded as Hiram's slaves, but, more +probably, 'household' means 'court,' and Solomon had not only to feed +the army of workmen, but to supply as much again for the great +establishment which Hiram kept up. The little slip of seacoast, with +the mountain rising sharply behind, which made Hiram's kingdom, could +not grow enough for his people's wants. His country was 'nourished' by +Palestine, long centuries after this time (Acts xii. 20), and the same +was the case in Solomon's period. In verse 11, the quantity of oil is +impossibly small as compared with that of wheat. 2 Chronicles reads +'twenty thousand' instead of 'twenty,' and the Septuagint inserts +'thousand' in verse 11, which is probably correct. + +With all his Oriental politeness and probably real wish to oblige a +powerful neighbour, Hiram was too true a Phoenician not to drive a good +bargain. He was king of 'a nation of shopkeepers,' and was quite worthy +of the position. 'Nothing for nothing' seems to have been his motto, +even with friends. He would love Solomon, and send him flowery +congratulations, and talk as if all he had was his ally's, but when it +came to settling terms he knew what his cedars were worth, and meant to +have their value. + +There are a good many people who get mixed up with religious work, and +talk as if it were very near their hearts, who have as sharp an eye to +their own advantage as he had. The man who serves God because he gets +paid for it, does not serve Him. The Temple may be built of the timber +and stones that he has supplied, but he sold them, and did not give +them, therefore he has no part in the building. + +How different the uncalculating lavishness of Solomon! He knows no +better use for treasures than to expend them on God's service, and 'all +for love, and nothing for reward.' That Is the true temper for +Christian work. He to whom Christ has given Himself should give himself +to Christ; and he who has given himself should and will keep back +nothing, nor seek for cheap ways of serving the Lord, He who gives all, +be it two mites, or a fishing-boat and some torn nets, or great wealth +like that which Solomon found in his father's treasuries and devoted to +building the Temple, gives much; and he who gives less than he can +gives little. + +Solomon's work was, after all, outward work, and fitter for that early +age than the imitation of it would be now. The days for building +temples and cathedrals are past. The universal religion hallows not +Gerizim nor Jerusalem, but every place where souls seek God The +spiritual religion asks for no shrines reared by men's hands; for Jesus +Christ is the true Temple, where God's name is set, and where men may +behold the manifested Jehovah, and meet with Him. But we have work to +do for Christ, and a temple to build in our own souls, and a stone or +two to lay in the great Temple which is being built up through the +ages. Well for us if we use our resources and our leisure, for such +ends with the same promptitude, thankful surrender, and sense of +fulfilling God's purpose, as animated the young king of Israel! + + + + +BUILDING IN SILENCE + +'. . . There was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of Iron heard In +the house, while it was in building.'--1 KINGS vi 7. + + +The Temple was built in silence. It 'rose like an exhalation.' + +'No hammer fell, no ponderous axes rung, +Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.' + +Perhaps it was merely for convenience of transport and to save time +that the stones were dressed in the quarries, but more probably the +silence was due to an instinct of reverence. We may fairly use it as +suggesting two thoughts. + +I. How God's house is mostly built in silence. 'The Kingdom of God +cometh not with observation.' + +(1) In reference to its advance in the world. Destructive work is +noisy, constructive work is silent. God was in 'the still small voice,' +not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. Christ's own career, how +silent it was! Drums are loud and empty. The spread of the kingdom was +unnoticed by the world's great ones--Caesars, philosophers, patricians, +and it silently grew underground. Hence may flow-- + +(a) An encouragement to those whose work is inconspicuous. + +(b) A lesson not to mistake noise and notoriety for spiritual progress. + +(c) Guidance as to our expectations of the advance of Christ's kingdom. +It will transform society by slow, often unnoticed, degrees, by radical +change of individuals' habits. The elevation of humanity will be slow, +like the imperceptible rise of the Norwegian coast. Sudden changes are +short-lived changes. 'Lightly come, lightly go.' What matures slowly +will last long. + +(2) In reference to its growth in our souls. + +Silence is needed for that. There must be much still communion and +quiet reflection. The advance in the Christian life is variously +likened to a battle, since there are antagonists and struggle is needed +to overcome; and to vegetable or corporeal growth, which the mysterious +indwelling life works without effort and almost without consciousness, +but it is also likened to the erection of a building, in which there is +continuity, and each successive course of masonry is the foundation for +that above it. That work of building is work that must be done in +silence. If we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, we must +silently drink in the sunshine and dew, and so prosperously pass from +blade to ear, and thence to full corn in the ear. + +Surely nothing is more needed in these days of noisy advertisement, and +measurement of the importance of things by the noise that they can +make, than this lesson of the place of silence in Christian progress, +both for individuals and for the Christian Church as a whole. + +II. How God's house is built of prepared stones. + +That is true, in one view of the matter, in regard to the Church on +earth, for there must be the individual act of repentance and faith +before a soul is fit to be built into the fabric of the Church. + +There is providential training of men for their tasks before these are +given to them. + +But the highest application of the symbol which we venture to find in +our text is to the relation between the earthly and the heavenly life. + +This world is the quarry where the stones are dressed for the Temple in +the heavens. + +(_a_) Life is the chipping and hewing. The unnecessary pieces are +struck off with heavy mallet and sharp chisel. Pain and sorrow are thus +explained, if not wholly, yet sufficiently to bring about submission +and trust. + +(_b_) The Builder has His plan clearly before Him, and works +accurately to realise it. He perfectly knows what He means to build, +and every stroke of the dressing-tool is accurately directed. There are +no mistakes made in His quarrying. + + (_c_) We may be sure that the prepared stones will be brought to +the Temple site and built into it. There lie gigantic half-hewn pillars +in abandoned quarries in Syria and Egypt. But no one will ever say of +the divine Temple-Builder: He began to build and was not able to +finish. It remains a problem how the old builders managed to transport +these huge stones from the quarries to the site, but we may be sure +that the Architect of the 'house not made with hands, eternal in the +heavens,' knows how to bring every stone that has been prepared here, +to the place prepared for it, and for which it has been prepared. We +may repose on the Apostle's assurance that 'He that has begun a good +work in you will perform it,' or rather on the more sure word of Jesus +Himself, 'He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of +My God.' + + + + +THE KING 'BLESSING' HIS PEOPLE + +And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this +prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar +of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to +heaven. 55. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel +with a loud voice, saying, 56. Blessed be the Lord, that hath given +rest unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there +hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by +the hand of Moses His servant. 57. The Lord our God be with us, as He +was with our fathers: let Him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58. That He +may incline our hearts unto Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep +His commandments, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He +commanded our fathers. 59. And let these my words, wherewith I have +made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day +and night, that He maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of +His people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: 60. That +all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that +there is none else. 61. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the +Lord our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as +at this day. 62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered +sacrifice before the Lord. 63. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of +peace-offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty +thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king +and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.'--1 +KINGS viii. 54-63. + + +The great ceremonial of dedicating the Temple was threefold. The first +stage was setting the ark in its place, which was the essence of the +whole thing. God's presence was the true dedication, and that was +manifested by the bright cloud that filled the sanctuary as soon as the +ark was placed there. The second stage was the lofty and spiritual +prayer, saturated with the language and tone of Deuteronomy, and +breathing the purest conceptions of the character and nature of God, +and all aglow with trust in Him. Then followed, thirdly, this 'Blessing +of the Congregation.' The prayer had been uttered by the kneeling king. +Now he stands up, and, with ringing tones that reach to the outskirts +of the crowd, he gathers the spirit of his prayer into two petitions, +preceded by praise for national blessings, and followed by exhortation +to national obedience. A huge sacrifice of unexampled magnitude closes +the whole. + +I. Note the thankful retrospect of the nation's past (verse 56). + +Solomon 'blessed the congregation' when, in their name, he lifted up +his voice to bless the Lord, prayed that God would incline their hearts +to keep His law, and would maintain their cause, and exhorted them to +keep their hearts perfect with Him. We bless each other when we ask God +to bless, and when we draw each other nearer Him. Standing there in the +new Temple, with a united nation gathered before him, the cloud filling +the house, and peace resting on all his land to its farthest border, +the king looks back on the long road from Sinai and the desert, and +sums up the whole history in one sentence. The end has vindicated the +methods. There had been many a dark time when enemies had oppressed, +and many a hard-fought field had been stained with Israel's blood; but +all had tended to this calm hour, when Israel's multitudes were +gathered in worship, and their unguarded homes were safe. There had +been many heroes in the long line. + +'Time would fail' him 'to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of +David and Samuel ... who ... turned to flight armies of aliens.' One +name alone is worthy to be named,--the name of the true Deliverer and +Monarch. It is the Lord who 'hath given rest unto His people.' We look +on the past most wisely when we see in it all the working of one mighty +Hand, and pass beyond the great names of history or the dear names +which have made the light of our homes, to the ever-living God, who +works through changing instruments; and 'the help that is done on +earth, He doeth it Himself.' We read the past most truly when we see in +all its vicissitudes God's unchanging faithfulness, and recognise that +the foes and sorrows which often pressed sore upon us were no breach of +His faithful promises, but either His loving chastisement for our +faithlessness, or His loving discipline meant to perfect our +characters. We read the past best from the vantage-ground of the +Temple. From its height we understand the lie of the land. Communion +with God explains much which is else inexplicable. Solomon's judgment +of Israel's checkered history will be our judgment of our own when we +stand in the higher courts of the heavenly home, and look from that +height upon all the way by which the Lord our God hath led us. In the +meantime, it is often a trial for faith to repeat these words; but the +blessing that comes from believing them true is worth the effort to +stifle our tears in order to say them. + +II. Note the prayer for obedient hearts (verses 57, 58). The proper +subject-matter of this petition is 'that He may incline our hearts to +walk in His ways,' and God's presence is invoked as a means thereto. +The deepest desire of a truly religious soul is for the felt nearness +of God. That goes before all other blessings, and contains them all. +Nothing is so needful or so sweet as that The presence of God is the +absence of evil, the evil both of pain and of sin, as surely as the +rising sun is the routing of night's black hosts. 'The best of all is, +God is with us.' The prayer again looks back to the past, and asks that +the ancient experiences may be renewed. The generations of those who +trust in God are knit together, and the wonders of old time are capable +of repetition to-day. Faith can say with deeper meaning than the +Preacher, 'That which hath been is that which shall be.' However +varying may be the forms, the fact of a divine presence and help +according to need is invariable, and they that have gone before have +not exhausted the fountain, which will fill the vessel of the latest +comer as it did that of the first. How beautifully the abiding God and +the fleeting series of 'our fathers' is contrasted! A moment of +triumph, when some work, like that of building the Temple, which has +for ages been looked forward to, and into which the sacrifices and +aspirations of a long line of dead toilers are built, brings strongly +before all thoughtful men the continuity of a nation or a Church, and +the transiency of its individual members. It should suggest the abiding +God yet more strongly than it does the passing fathers. The mercy +remains the same, while the receivers change. The sunshine and the tree +are the same, though the leaves which glisten and grow in the light +have but one summer to live. + +But Solomon desires that God may be with him and his people for one +specific purpose. Is it to bring outward prosperity, or to extend their +territory, or to give them victory? As in his choice in his dream, so +now, he asks, not for these things, but for an inward influence on +heart and will. What he wants most for himself and them is moral +conformity to God's will. All must be right if that be right. The +prayer implies that, without God's help, the heart will wander from the +paths of duty. The weakness of human nature, and the consequent +necessity for God's grace in order to obedience, were as deeply felt by +the devout men of the Old Testament as by Apostles. They are felt by +every man who has honestly tried to measure the sweep and inwardness of +God's law, and to realise it in life. We need go but a very short way +on the road to discover that temptations to diverge lie so thick on +either side, and that our feet grow weary so soon, that we shall make +but little progress without help from above. + +The synonyms for the law are worthy of notice. Why are there so many of +these in the Old Testament? For the same reason that there are so many +for 'money' in English,--because those who made the language thought so +much about the thing, and delighted in it so much. As 'commandments,' +it was solemnly imposed by rightful authority, and obedience was +obligatory. The word rendered 'statutes' means something engraved, or +written, and recalls the tables inscribed by God's finger. 'Judgments' +are the divine decisions or sentences as to what is right, and +therefore the infallible clue to the else bewildering labyrinth. To +obey these commandments, to read that solemn writing, and to accept +these decisions as our guides, is man's perfection and blessedness; and +for that God's felt presence is indispensable. + +III. Note the prayer for God's defence (verses 59, 60). The proper +subject-matter of this petition is that God would maintain the cause of +king and nation; and it is preceded by a petition that, to that end, +the preceding prayer may be answered, and is followed by the desire +that thereby the knowledge of God may fill the earth. The prayer for +outward blessings comes after the prayer for inward heart-obedience. Is +not that the right order? Our prayers need to be prayed for, and a true +desire is not contented with one utterance. To ask that what we have +asked may be given is no vain repetition, nor a sign of weak faith, or +undue anxiety. How bold the figure in asking that the prayer may lie +before God day and night, like some suppliant at the foot of His +throne! + +Note the grand aim of God's help of Israel,--the universal diffusion of +His name among all the peoples of the earth. Solomon understood the +divine vocation of Israel, and had risen above desiring blessings only +for his own or his subjects' sake. Later ages fell from that elevation +of feeling, and hugged their special privileges without a thought of +the obligations which they involved. God's choice of Israel was not +meant for the exclusion of the Gentiles, but as the means of +transmitting the knowledge of God to them. The one nation was chosen +that God's grace might fructify through it to all. The fire was +gathered into a hearth, that the whole house might be warmed. But +selfishness marred the divine plan, and Israel became a nonconductor, +and the privileges selfishly kept became corrupt; as the miser's corn +stored in his barns in famine breeds weevils. Christians need no more +solemn lesson of what comes from selfishly hoarding spiritual blessings +than the fate of Israel. God hath shined into our hearts, that we may +give to others who sit in the dark the light which we possess; and if +we fail to do so, the light will darken within us. + +IV. The blessing ends with one brief, all-comprehensive charge to the +people, which seems based, by its 'therefore,' on the preceding thought +of Jehovah as the only God. The only attitude corresponding to His sole +and supreme Majesty is the entire devotion of heart, which leads to +thoroughgoing obedience to His commandments. The word rendered +'perfect' literally means 'entire' or 'sound,' and here expresses the +complete devotion of the whole nature. Solomon meant that it should be +complete, in contradistinction to any sidelong glances to idolatry. The +principle underlying that 'therefore' is that, God being what He is, +our only God and refuge, the only adequate hope and object of our +nature, we should give our whole selves to Him. We, too, are tempted to +bring Him divided hearts, and to carry some of our love and trust as +offerings at other shrines. But if there be 'one God, and none other +but He,' then to serve Him with all our heart and strength and mind is +the dictate of common sense, and the only service which He can accept, +or which can bring to our else distracted natures peace and +satisfaction. His voice to us is, 'My son, give Me thy whole heart.' +Our answer to Him should ever be that prayer, 'Lord, ... unite my heart +to fear Thy name.' A divided heart is misery. Partial trust is +distrust. 'Love me all in all, or not at all,' is the requirement of +all deep, human love; and shall God ask less than men and women ask +from and give to one another? + + + + +'THE MATTER OF A DAY IN ITS DAY' + +'At all times, as the matter shall require.'--1 KINGS viii. 59. + + +I have ventured to diverge from my usual custom, and take this fragment +of a text because, in the forcible language of the original, it carries +some very important lessons. The margin of our Bible gives the literal +reading of the Hebrew; the sense, but not the vigorous idiom, of which +is conveyed in the paraphrase in our version. 'At all times, as the +matter shall require,' is, literally, 'the thing of a day in its day'; +and that is the only limitation which this prayer of Solomon places +upon the petition that God would maintain the cause of His servants and +of His people Israel. The kingly suppliant got a glimpse of very great, +though very familiar, truths, and at that hour of spiritual +illumination, the very high-water mark of his relations to God--for I +suppose he was never half as good a man afterwards--he gave utterance +to the great thought that God's mercies come to us day by day, according +to the exigencies of the moment. + +Now, I think that in the words 'the matter of a day in its day' we may +see both a principle in reference to God's gifts and a precept in +reference to our actions. Let us look at these two things. + +I. A principle in reference to God's gifts. + +Of course, obviously--and I need not say more than a word about that-- +we find it so in regard to the outward blessings that are poured into +our lives. We are taught, if the translation of the New Testament is +correct, to ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' and to let to- +morrow alone. Life comes to us pulsation by pulsation, breath by +breath, by reason of the continual operation, in the material world, of +the present God's present giving. He does not start us, at the +beginning of our days, with a fund of physical vitality upon which we +thereafter draw, but moment by moment He opens His hand, and lets life +and breath and all things flow out to us moment by moment, for no +creature would live for an instant except for the present working of a +present God. If we only realised how the slow pulsation of the minutes +is due to the touch of His finger on the pendulum, and how everything +that we have, and the existence of us who have it, are results of the +continuous welling out from the fountain of life, of ripple after +ripple of the waters, everything would be more sacred, and more solemn, +and fuller of God than, alas! it is. + +But the true region in which we may best find illustrations of this +principle in reference to God's gifts is the region of the spiritual +and moral bestowments which He in His love pours upon us. He does not +flood us with them: He filters them drop by drop, for great and good +reasons. I only mention three various forms of this one great thought. + +God gives us gifts adapted to the moment. 'The matter of a day,' the +thing fitted for the instant, comes. In deepest reality, all is one +gift, for in truth what God gives to us is Himself; or, if you like to +put it so, His grace. That little word 'grace' is like a small window +that opens out on to a great landscape, for it gathers up into one +encyclopaediacal expression the whole infinite variety of beneficences +and bestowments which come showering down upon us. That one gift is, +as the Apostle puts it in one of his eloquent epithets, 'the +_manifold_ grace of God,' which word in the original is even more rich +and picturesque, because it means the 'many-variegated' grace--like +some rich piece of embroidery glowing with all manner of dyes and +gold. So the one gift comes to us manifold, rich in its adaptation to, +and its exquisite fitness for, the needs of the moment. The Rabbis had +a tradition that the manna in the wilderness tasted to every man just +what each man needed or wished most. It Is as though in some imperial +city on a day of rejoicing, one found a fountain in the market-place +pouring out, according to the wish of the people, various costly wines +and refreshing drinks, God's gift comes to us with like variety--the +'matter of a day in its day.' + +God never gives us the wrong medicine. In whatever variety of +circumstances we stand, that one infinitely simple and yet infinitely +complex gift contains what we specially want at the moment. Am I +struggling? He extends a hand to steady me. Am I fighting? He is my +'sword and shield, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my +high tower.' Am I anxious? He comes into my heart, and brings with Him +a great peace, and all waves cease to toss and smooth themselves into a +level plain. Am I glad? He comes to heighten the gladness by some touch +of holier joy. Am I perplexed in mind? If I look to Him, 'His coming +shall be as the morning,' and illumination will be granted. Am I +treading a lonely path? There is One by my side who will neither +change, nor fail, nor die. Whatever any man needs, at the moment that +he needs it, that one great Gift will supply 'the matter of a day in +its day.' + +God gives punctually. Many of us may have sometimes sent Christmas +presents to India or Australia some weeks before. Some will arrive in +time and some will be too late. God's gifts never reach us before the +day, and they never come after the day. 'The Lord shall help her, and +that right early,' said the grand psalm. What the Psalmist was thinking +about was, I suppose, that miraculous intervention when the army of +Sennacherib was smitten in a night. Timid and faithless souls in +Jerusalem, as they looked over the walls and saw the encircling lines +of the fierce foes drawing closer and closer round the doomed city, +must have said, 'Our Lord delayeth His coming,' and could not stand the +test of their faith and patience, involved in God's apparent +indifference to the need of His people. To-morrow the assault is to be +delivered. To-night + + 'The Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, + And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed'; + +and the would-be assailants, when that to-morrow dawned, were lying +stiff and stark in their tents. God's help comes, not too soon, lest we +should not know the blessedness of trusting in the dark; and not too +late, lest we should know the misery of trusting in vain. + +Peter is lying in prison. Herod intends, after the Passover, to bring +him out to the people. The scaffolding is ready. The first watch of the +night passes, and the second. If once it is fairly light, escape is +impossible. But in the grey dawn the angel touches the sleeper. He +wakes while his guards sleep. There is no need for hurry. He who has +God for his Deliverer has no occasion to 'go out with haste.' So, with +strange and majestic leisureliness, the escaping prisoner is bid to put +on his shoes and gird himself. No doubt, he cast many a scrutinising +glance at the four sleeping legionaries whom a heedless movement might +have wakened. When all is ready, he is led forth through all the wards, +each being a separate peril, and all made safe to him. The first gate +opens, and the second gate opens, and the iron gate that leads into the +city opens, and quietly he and the angel go down the street. It is +light enough for him to see his way to the house where the brethren are +assembled. He gets safe behind Mary's door before it is light enough +for the gaolers to discover his absence, and for the pursuers to be +started in their search. The Lord did help him, and that right early--' +the matter of a day in its day,' + +We shall find, if we leave our times in His hand, that the old simple +faith has still a talismanic power to quiet us. His time is best, so be +patient, and be trustful in your patience. + +Again, God gives gifts enough, and not more than enough. He serves out +our rations for spirit as for body, as they do on shipboard, where the +sailors have to take their pots and plates to the galley every day and +for each meal, and get enough to help them over the moment's hunger. +The manna fell morning by morning. 'He that gathered much had nothing +over, he that gathered little had no lack.' So all the variety of our +changeful conditions, besides its purpose of disciplining ourselves and +of making character, has also the purpose of affording a theatre for +the display, if I may use such cold language--or rather let me say +affording an opportunity for the bestowment--of the infinitely varied, +exquisitely adapted, punctual, and sufficient grace of God. + +II. But now, secondly, a word about the text as containing a precept +for our action. + +Let me put what I have to say in three plain sentences. + +First, take short views of the future. Of course, we have to look +ahead, and in reference to many things to take prudent forecasts, but +how many of us there are who weaken ourselves and spoil to-day by being +'over-exquisite to cast the fashion of uncertain evils'! It is a great +piece of practical philosophy, and I am sure that it has much to do +with our getting the best out of the present moment, that we should +either take very short or very long views of the future. Either + + 'Let the unknown to-morrow + Bring with it what it may,' + +or look beyond the last of the days into the unseen light of an +unsetting sun. If I must anticipate, let me anticipate the ultimate, +the changeless, the certain; and let me not condemn my faculty of +picturing that which is to come, to look along the low ranges of +earthly life, and torture myself by imagining all the possibilities of +evil of which my condition admits, as being turned into certainties to- +morrow. Take 'the matter of a day _in_ its day.' 'Sufficient unto +the day is the evil thereof.' Let us make the minute what it ought to +be, then God will make the whole what it ought to be. + +Again I say, let us fill each day with discharged duties. If you and I +do not do the matter of the day in its day, the chances are that no to- +morrow will afford an opportunity of doing it. So there will come upon +us all, if we are unfaithful to this portioning out of tasks to times, +that burden of an irrevocable past, and of the omitted duties that will +stand reproving and condemning before us, whensoever we turn our eyes +to them. 'It might have been, and it is not'; does a sadder speech than +that fall from human lips? Brethren, the day, though it is short, is +elastic; and no one knows how much of discharged service and +accomplished work and fulfilled responsibilities can be crammed into +its hours, until he has earnestly tried to fill each moment with the +task which belongs to the moment. 'The sluggard will not plough by +reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest and have +nothing.' If our day is not filled full of work, some to-morrow will be +filled full, in retrospect, of thorns and stings. Life is short; 'the +night cometh when no man can work.' 'I must work the works of Him that +sent me while it is day.' + +Lastly, I would say, keep open a continual communion with God, that day +by day you may get what day by day you need. There are hosts of people +who call themselves, and, in some kind of surface way, are, Christian +people, who seem to think that they get all that they need of the grace +of God in a lump, at the beginning of their Christian career, and who +are living upon past communications and the memory of these, and are +forgetting that they can no more live and be nourished upon past gifts +of God's grace than upon the dinner that they ate this day last year. +We must hang continually upon Him, if we are continually to receive +from His hand. No past blessing will avail for present use. + +Dear friends, the purpose of this principle, which I have been trying +to illustrate in God's way of dealing with us, is that we shall be +content to be continually dependent, and consciously as well as +continually dependent, upon Him. In the measure in which we keep our +hearts open for the perpetual influx of His grace, in that measure +shall we be ready for each day as it comes; for its trials and its +joys, for its possibilities and its duties. + +This, too, must be remembered--that the days bolted together make +months; and the months, years; and the years, life; and that life as a +whole is 'a day'; and that there is a 'matter' of that day which can +only be done in its day. Oh that none of us may be the subjects of that +sad wail from a Saviour's heart and a Saviour's lips, which lamented, +'If thou hadst known, at least, in this thy day, the things that belong +to thy peace; but now'--the night has come, and the darkness of the +night, and--'they are hid from thine eyes!' + + + + +PROMISES AND THREATENINGS + +'And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the +house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which +he was pleased to do. 2. That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second +time, as He had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3. And the Lord said unto +him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made +before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My +name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there +perpetually, 4. And if thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father +walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to +all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep My statutes and My +judgments: 5. Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon +Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall +not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 6. But if ye shall at +all turn from following Me, ye or your children, and will not keep My +commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and +serve other gods, and worship them: 7. Then will I cut off Israel out +of the land which I have given them; and this house which I have +hallowed for My name, will I cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be +a proverb and a byword among all people: 8. And at this house, which is +high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; +and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to +this house? 9. And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord +their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, +and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and +served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.'- +1 KINGS ix. 1-9. + + +The successful end of a great work is often the beginning of a great +reaction. When the tension is slackened, the whole nature of the worker +is relaxed, and the temptation to slothful self-indulgence is strong. +God knows our frame, and mercifully times His manifestations to the +moments of special need. So, when Solomon had finished his great task, +'the Lord appeared the second time, as He had appeared at Gibeon.' +There had been no manifest token of approval during all the years of +building the Temple, for none was needed; but now there was danger that +the finished work might be followed by languor and indifference, and +therefore once more God spoke words of stimulus, both promises and +warnings. + +A solemn alternative is set before the king, both parts of which are +fitted to rouse his energy and inspire him to faithful obedience. The +same alternatives are presented to each of us. In verses 3-5 God +promises blessed results from clinging to Him and keeping His statutes; +in verses 6-9 He mercifully threatens the tragic issues of departure. +In applying these to ourselves we must remember that outward prosperity +was attached to a devout life more closely in Israel than it is now. +But, though the form of the blessings dependent on doing God's will +alters, the reality remains unaltered. + +I. The promises to Solomon are preceded by the assurance that his +prayer had been heard. The answer corresponds very beautifully to the +petitions. God has 'put His name' in the Temple, as the descent of the +Glory to rest between the cherubim visibly showed, and thus has +fulfilled Solomon's petition; but the answer surpasses the prayer in +that the presence of 'the Name' is promised 'for ever.' Similarly, in +Psalm cxxxii., the answer to the petition 'Arise into Thy rest' +transcends the petition which it answers, and adds the same promise of +perpetuity, 'This is My rest for _ever_.' Again, Solomon had +prayed, 'that Thine eyes may be open towards this house,' and God +answers with the expanded promise that not His eyes only, but His heart +shall be there perpetually. He is 'able to do exceeding abundantly +above all that we ask or think,' and He delights to surprise us with +over-answers to our prayers. We cannot widen our desires so far but +that His gifts will stretch beyond them on every side. + +But the promise of perpetual dwelling in the Temple is conditional, as +appears in the latter part of God's answer, though no condition is +stated at first. The promises to Solomon individually are all +contingent. The all-important 'if' at the beginning of verse 4 governs +the whole. The divine eulogium on David, which introduces these +promises, suggests how mercifully God regards the imperfect lives of +His servants. That merciful interpretation of conduct is removed by a +whole universe from palliation of sin. It affords no ground for our +thinking little of our inconsistencies. David's crime was sternly +rebuked and sorely punished, but still his life, in its main drift and +outline, could be presented as a pattern, as being marked by integrity +of heart and uprightness. The moon shines like a disc of silver, though +its surface is pitted with extinct volcanoes. + +We may note, too, the pregnant description in outline of the elements +of a devout life, as here enjoined on Solomon. The first requisite is +to walk before God; that is, to nourish a continual consciousness of +His presence, and to regulate all actions and thoughts under the +thrilling and purifying sense of being 'ever in the great Taskmaster's +eye.' Only we are not to think of Him as only a Taskmaster, but as a +loving Friend and Helper. A child is happy in its little work or play +when it knows that its father is looking on with sympathy. The sense of +God's eye being on us should 'make a sunshine in a shady place,' should +lighten labour and sweeten care. It is at the root of practical +obedience, as its place in this sequence shows; for there follow it, in +verse 4, 'integrity of heart and uprightness,' on which again follow +obedience to all God's commandments. + +First must come the clear recognition of God's relation to us. That +recognition will influence our relation to Him, bending hearts to love +and wills to submit, and the whole inward being to cleave to Him. +Thence, and only thence, will issue in the life the streams of +practical obedience. It is vain to seek to produce righteous deeds +unless our hearts are right, and it is as vain to labour at making our +hearts right unless thoughts of what God is to us have purified them. +Morality is rooted in religion. On the other hand, no knowledge of the +truth about God is worth anything unless it touches the hidden man of +the heart, and then passes outward to mould conduct. 'Faith without +works is dead.' Correct theology and glowing emotions lack their +consummation if they do not impel to holy and God-pleasing living. + +The reward promised in verse 5 is for Solomon alone. His throne is to +be 'established for ever.' The duration intended by that expression is +therefore not absolutely unlimited, but equivalent to 'during thy +lifetime.' Solomon could only affect himself by his obedience. The +continuance of the kingdom after him depended on his successors. His +possession of the throne during his life was the beginning of the +fulfilment of the promise to David referred to in verse 5, but it was +only the beginning, and, like all God's promises, it was contingent on +obedience. We receive no outward kingdom if we are servants of God; +but, in deepest truth, the righteous man is a king, 'lord of himself, +though not of lands.' All creatures serve the soul that serves God, and +all Christ's brethren share in His royalty. + +II. The second part of this divine utterance is addressed to the whole +nation, as is marked by the 'ye' there compared with the 'thou' in +verse 4, and it lays down for succeeding generations the conditions on +which the new Temple, that stood glittering in the bright Eastern +sunshine, should retain its pristine beauty. While the address to +Solomon incited to obedience by painting its blessed consequences, that +to the nation reaches the same end by the opposite path of darkly +portraying the ruin that would be caused by departure from God. God +draws by holding out a hand full of good things, and He no less +lovingly drives by stretching out a hand armed with lightnings. + +A plain declaration of the evils that dog disobedience is as loving as +a bright vision of the good that attends on submission. The sternest +threatenings of Scripture are spoken that they may never need to be +executed. There is no more foolish misconception of Christianity than +that which calls it harsh because it reveals that 'the wages of sin is +death.' Note that the threatenings come second, not first. God's heart +is averse to smite. To lavish blessing is His delight, and judgment is +'His work, His strange work,' forced on Him by sin. + +The special sin against which Israel was warned was that to which it +was specially prone and tempted by its circumstances. When all the +nations 'worshipped stocks and stones,' it was hard to 'keep thy faith +so pure' as to have no share in the universal bewitchment. So the whole +history of the people is one of lapses into idolatry and of +chastisements leading to temporary amendment, until the long, sharp +lesson of the Captivity eradicated the disposition to be as the nations +around. No doubt, idolatry in its crudest forms is outgrown now in +Western lands, but sense still craves material embodiment of the +unseen, and still feels the pressure of the material and palpable. +Hence the earthward direction of so many lives. Asthmatical patients +often breathe more easily in the slums of a city than in pure mountain +air, and sense-bound men find difficulty in respiration on the heights +of a religion which minimises the appeal to sense. + +The penalty attached to departure from God was the loss of the land. +Israel kept it on a tenure like that of some of our English nobility, +who hold their estates on condition of doing some service to the +sovereign. Of course, that connection between serving God and national +prosperity involved continual supernatural intervention, and cannot be +applied entirely to national prosperity now; but it still remains true +that moral and religious corruption saps the foundations of a people's +well-being, and, when carried far enough, destroys a people's +existence. The solemn threat of becoming 'a proverb and a byword' among +all peoples is quoted, apparently from Deuteronomy xxviii. 37, and has +been only too terribly fulfilled for weary centuries. + +The promise in verse 3, that God's eyes and heart should be perpetually +on the Temple, has now the condition attached that Israel should cleave +to the Lord. Otherwise it will be cast out of His sight, and be a mark +for scorn and wonder. The vivid representation of a dialogue between +passers-by is quoted from Deuteronomy xxix. 24-26, where it is spoken +in reference to the nation. It carries the solemn thought that God's +name is made known among the heathen by the punishment of His +unfaithful people, not less really, and sometimes more strikingly, than +by the blessings bestowed on the obedient. If we will not magnify Him +by joyous service, by rewarding which, with good He can magnify +Himself, He will magnify Himself on us by retribution, the more severe +as our blessings have been the greater. The lightning-scathed tree, +standing white in the forest, witnesses to the power of the flash, as +its leafy sisters in their green beauty proclaim the energy of the +sunshine. Israel has, perhaps, been a more convincing witness for God, +in its homeless centuries, than ever it was when at rest in the good +land. 'If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also +spare not thee.' + + + + +A ROYAL SEEKER AFTER WISDOM + +'And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning +the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2. And +she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare +spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come +to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3. And +Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from +the king, which he told her not. 4. And when the queen of Sheba had +seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5. And the +meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance +of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent +by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more +spirit in her. 6. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I +heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7. Howbeit I +believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, +behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth +the fame which I heard. 8. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy +servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy +wisdom. 9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee, to +set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for +ever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10. And +she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices +very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such +abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king +Solomon. 11. And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, +brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. +12. And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the +Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: +there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13. And +king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever +she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So +she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.'--1 KINGS +x. 1-13. + + +We feel the breath of a new era in the accounts of Solomon's reign. One +most striking peculiarity is the friendly intercourse with the nations +around. The horizon has widened, and, instead of wars with Philistines +and Ammon, we have alliances with Egypt, Tyre, and, in the present +passage, with Sheba, a district of Southern Arabia. The expansion was +fruitful of both good and evil. It brought new ideas and much wealth; +but it brought, too, luxury and idolatry. Still Israel was meant to be +'a light to lighten the Gentiles,' and in this picturesque story of the +wisdom-seeking queen, we have the true relation of Israel to the +nations in its purest form. The details of the narrative. Interesting +as they are, need not occupy us long. + +The queen had heard the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the +Lord, by which seems to be meant his reputation of being gifted with +deep knowledge of the divine character as revealed to him. The +questions which occupy earnest souls in all lands and ages were +stirring in the heart of this woman-chief. The only way, in these old +days, to learn the wisdom of the wise, was to go to them. So the +streets of Jerusalem saw the strange sight of the long train which had +come toiling up from Arabia, laden with its characteristic produce, +gold and spices and precious stones, in the enumeration of which is +reflected the wonder of the beholders at the unaccustomed procession. +But better than all her wealth was the eager woman's thirst for truth. +Surely it is a very unworthy and unlikely explanation of her 'hard +questions' and purpose to suppose that she came only for a duel of +wit,--to pose Solomon with half-playful riddles. The journey was too +toilsome, the gifts too large, the accent of conviction in her +subsequent words too grave, for that. She was a seeker after truth, and +probably after God, and had known the torture of the eternal questions +which rise in the mind, and, once having risen, leave no rest till they +are answered. + +So she came, though half incredulous, hoping to find some solution to +what 'was in her heart,' and as thirsty for the answer as her country's +sands for water. Only they who have known the pain of carrying such +questions, like a fire in their bones, can know the joy which she felt +when she found one to whom she could speak them. It is something of a +drop to pass from Solomon's wisdom to the list of the splendours of his +household, and the effect which these produced on the queen; but the +whole account of Solomon's reign is marked by the same naive blending +of wisdom and material wealth. In those days, outward prosperity was +the sign of divine favour. But even in those days they knew that wisdom +was 'better than rubies.' The two elements were both at their height in +Solomon's reign, and the lower of them finally got uppermost, and +wrecked him. Plain living and high thinking are better than 'wisdom,' +which lets itself down to make much of 'the meat of the table,' and a +retinue of servants in fine clothes. How many of us would listen much +more respectfully to wisdom, if it lived in a palace, than in 'dens and +caves of the earth'? The queen's words in verses 6 to 9 are graceful +with a woman's tact, and full of feeling. She confesses that she had +come half-doubting, even though she risked the journey, and fervently +avows how far fame had been unlike itself in this instance, and had +diminished, and not magnified. Then she envies the servants who wait on +him, because they are so near the fountain, and finally breaks into +praise of Solomon's God, whose love to Israel was shown in giving it +such a king. One does not know whether praise of God or compliments to +Solomon were most in her mind. The words scarcely sound as if she had +become a worshipper of God. He is to her but 'thy God.' But we may +believe that she carried away some seed which grew up. Then, with +munificent interchange of gifts, she and her train glide out of the +story, and we lose them in the dark. The account of the wealth brought +by Hiram's ships comes singularly in, breaking the narrative of the +queen. Its insertion seems to indicate some connection between the +fleet and her, and to suggest that Sheba and Ophir were near each other +(which would put Ethiopia, where some have located it, out of court), +and that she heard of Solomon through it. + +The whole incident may be regarded as an illustration of the spirit +that should mark all seekers after truth, whether earthly or heavenly. +This queen had to win a victory over national prejudices, over the +disabilities of her sex, over the temptations of her station, to travel +far, and face dangers, and to incur great cost. It was surely no mere +playful errand on which she was bent. She was smitten with the sacred +impulse to 'follow knowledge like a sinking star.' Seldom, indeed, have +rulers made progresses from their dominions for such an end, and seldom +have two of them met to confer on such subjects. We shall not rightly +measure the relative importance of things unless we resolutely set +ourselves to look at them with eyes purged from the illusions of sense, +and cleared to see how much better than wealth and all outward good is +the possession of truth. All sacrifices made to win it are richly +repaid, and wise investments. Even in regard to lower kinds of truth, +to win them is worth the effort of a life; and, in regard to the +highest kind, which is the personal Truth, he is the wise man who +counts all earthly good but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of +it. This queen points the path by which all pilgrims of the truth must +travel. It is not to be won without effort, without conquest of +prejudices, repression of weakness, sacrifices of delights, and long +effort. There must be humility, which will gladly learn, if there is +ever to be its possession. + + 'Nor can the man that moulds in idle cell + Unto her happy mansion attain.' + +But in our days, the easier the attainment, the less the appreciation. +The queen of Sheba had no books, and she travelled far to get wisdom. +We are flooded with all appliances, and many of us would not cross the +road to get Solomon's wisdom, but would do much to be invited to feast +at his table, or to secure some of the queen's camels' load. + +This story brings out the true ideal of Israel's relation to the +nations. Solomon is the embodiment of his people. His reign is marked +by largely increased and amicable relations with his neighbours. These +were not all wholesome, and ultimately led to much mischief. But, while +the purely commercial connection with Tyre was defective, in that there +was no attempt to bring Hiram and the men who worked for the Temple to +any knowledge of the God of the Temple, and the relation with Egypt was +more unsatisfactory still, in that it meant only the importation of +corrupting luxuries and the marriage with an Egyptian princess, an +idolatress, this relation with the queen of Sheba was the true one. +Solomon did in it what Israel was meant to do for the world. He +attracted a seeker from afar, and imparted to her the wisdom that God +had given him. He answered the torturing questions and won the +confidence of this woman who was groping in the dark, till he led her +by the hand to the light. A bond of friendship knit them together, and +mutual gifts cemented their amity. + +All this is but the putting into concrete form of God's purpose in +choosing Israel for His own. It was not meant to retain or to enclose, +but to diffuse, the light. The world can only get blessing by one man +or people getting it first. As well charge the builder of the +lighthouse with partiality because he puts the bright lamps in that +narrow room, as find fault with the divine method of making the earth +know His name. The lighthouse is reared that the beams may stream out +over the tossing, nightly sea. So God appointed to His people of old +their task. So He has appointed the same task to His Church to-day. We +ought to attract seekers from afar, to win their frank speech when they +come, to be able to answer their anxious questions, and to bind them to +ourselves in grateful bonds. In these days there are multitudes +harassed by the modern forms of the same old, ever-pressing riddles +which burdened this ancient queen's heart; and that Church but ill +discharges its office which repels rather than draws the seekers, or +has no word of illumination for them if they come. + +But the highest use to be made of the story is that which Christ made +of it. It stands as a perpetual witness against those who are too blind +to see the beauty, or too careless to be drawn to listen to the wisdom, +of a present Christ. The sacrifices which men can make for lower +objects are the most powerful rebukes of their unwillingness to make +sacrifices for the highest, just as their capacity of love and trust is +of their not loving and trusting Him. The same energy and effort which +this queen put forth to reach Solomon, and which men eagerly put forth +for some temporal good, would suffice to bring them to the feet of the +great Teacher. Her longing for wisdom, her discernment of the person +who could give it, and her toilsome journey, rebuke men's indifference +to Christ's gifts, their failure to recognise His sweetness and power +to make blessed, and their laziness and self-indulgence, which will not +take a hundredth part of the pains to secure heaven which they +cheerfully expend, and that often in vain, to secure earth. Will the +'Queen of the south' stand alone as witness in that day, or will there +not be many out of other lands, who, like her, stretched out their +hands to the dimly descried but yearned-for light, and came nearer to +it, though they seemed far off, than many who lived in its full blaze +and never cared for it? Will it be only Christ's contemporaries who +will be condemned by heathen seekers after God, or will there be many +of ourselves, convicted of stolid indifference to the Christ who has +been beside us all our lives, and has prayed us 'with much entreaty' +and in vain, to 'receive the gift'? + +They who find their way to Him, and tell Him all that is in their +hearts, will have all their questions solved. We have not far to go; +for 'a greater than Solomon is here.' If we betake ourselves to Him, +and learn of Him, we too shall find that 'the half was not told us'; +for Christ possessed is sweeter than all expectation, however high- +pitched it may be, and to win Him is the only gain in which there is no +disappointment, either at first or at last. We may all have the +blessedness of His servants, 'which stand continually before' Him, and +not only 'hear' but receive into their spirits His 'wisdom.' + + + + +THE FALL OF SOLOMON + +'For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away +his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord +his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5. For Solomon went +after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the +abomination of the Ammonites. 6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of +the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. +7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of +Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the +abomination of the children of Ammon. 8. And likewise did he for all +his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. +9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned +from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 10. And +had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after +other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. 11. +Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of +thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have +commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give +it to thy servant. 12. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for +David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. +13. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one +tribe to thy son for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake +which I have chosen.'--1 KINGS xi. 4-13. + + +Scripture never blinks the defects of its heroes. Its portraits do not +smooth out wrinkles, but, with absolute fidelity, give all faults. That +pitiless truthfulness is no small proof of its inspiration. If these +historical books were simply fragments of national records, owning no +higher source than patriotism, they would never have blurted out the +errors and sins of David and Solomon as they do. Where else are there +national histories of which the very central idea is the laying bare of +national sins and chastisements? or where else are there legends of the +people's heroes which tell their sins without apology or reticence? The +difference in tone augurs a different origin. The Old Testament +histories are not written to tell Israel's glories, or even, we may +say, to recount its history, but to tell God's dealings with Israel,--a +very different theme, and one which finds its material equally in the +glories and in the miseries, which respectively follow its obedience +and disobedience. So Solomon's fall is told in the same frank way as +his wisdom and wealth; for what is of importance is not Solomon so much +as God's dealings with Solomon, when his heart was turned away. We are +told that the narrative of Solomon's reign is an ideal picture. Strange +idealising which leaves the ideal king wallowing in a sty of sensuality +and an apostate from Jehovah! + +Here we are simply told of the two things,--his sin, and the divine +judgment which it drew after it. + +I. Verses 4-8 tell the black story of Solomon's apostasy. What was its +extent? Did he himself take part in idolatrous worship, or simply, with +the foolish fondness of an old sensualist, let these foreign women have +their shrines? The darker supposition seems correct. The expression +that he 'went after other gods' is commonly used to mean actual +idolatry; and his wives could scarcely have been said to have 'turned +away his heart,' if all that he did was to wink at, or even to +facilitate, their worship. But, on the other hand, he does not seem to +have abandoned Jehovah's worship. The charge against him is that 'his +heart was not perfect,' or wholly devoted to the Lord, or, as verse 6 +puts it, that he 'went not fully' after the Lord. His was a case of +halting between two opinions, or rather, of trying to hold both at +once. He wanted to be a worshipper of Jehovah and of these idols also. + +Was his apostasy final? Yes, so far as we can gather from the +narrative. Not only is there no statement of his repentance, but the +silence with which he receives the divine announcement of retribution +is suspicious; and the prophecy of Ahijah to Jeroboam, which obviously +comes later in time than the threatenings of the text, treats the +idolatry as still existing (verse 33). Further, we learn from 2 Kings +xxiii.13 that the shrines which he built stood till Josiah's time. If +Solomon had ever abandoned his idolatry, he would not have left them +standing. So we seem to have in him a case of a fall which knew no +recovery, an eclipse which did not pass. The Book of Ecclesiastes, if +of his composition, would somewhat lighten the darkness of such an end; +but his authorship of it is now all but universally given up. + +So there, on Olivet's southern ridge, right opposite the Temple, stood +the three altars, and there the king worshipped; and, if he did, he +would have a crowd of imitators. The lessons of such a fall are many. +First, it teaches the destructive effect of yielding to sensual +indulgence. Solomon's unbridled and monstrous polygamy sapped his +manhood and his principle, darkened his clear spirit, blinded his keen +eye, and turned a youth of noble aspiration and a manhood of noble +accomplishment into an old age without dignity, reverence, or calm. All +his wisdom was worth little if it could not keep him master of himself. +A young man who lets his passions run away with him is less to be +condemned than an old sensualist. God means that reason should govern +impulses and desires, and that conscience should govern all and be +governed by His will. The vessel is sure to be wrecked when the +officers are sent below and the mutineers get hold of the helm. + +Second, it warns us that till the very end of life a fall is possible. +This ship went down when the voyage was nearly over. In sight of port +it struck, and that not for want of beacons. What pathetic warning lies +in that phrase, 'when Solomon was old'! After so many years of high +aims, so many temptations overcome, with such habits of wisdom and +kingly nobility, after such prayers and visions, he fell; and, if +_he_ fell, who can be sure of standing? No length of life spent in +holy thoughts and service secures us against the possibility of +disastrous fall. Only one thing does,--'Hold Thou me up, and I shall be +safe!' John Bunyan saw a door opening down to hell hard by the gates of +the Celestial City. When a man that has been had in reputation for +wisdom and honour shames the record of his life by a great splash of +mud on the white page, near its end, he seldom returns. An old apostate +is usually finally an apostate. + +Third, may we not venture to see a warning here against marriages in +which there is not unity in the deepest things, and a common faith? +'When you run in double harness, take a good look at the other horse.' +If a young Christian man or woman enters on such a union with one who +is not a Christian, it is a great deal more probable that, in the end, +there will be two unbelievers than that there will be two Christians. + +We have nothing to do with pronouncing on Solomon's final condition, +But he stands on the page of this history, a sad, enigmatical figure, a +warning to all young people to take heed that the attrition of the +world does not rub off the bloom of early religion, or make them +cynically ashamed of the unselfishness of their early desires. There is +no sadder sight than an old man whose youthful enthusiasm for goodness +and belief in the super-excellency of wisdom have withered, leaving him +a hard worldling or a gross sensualist. Better the early days, when he +was obscure and poor, and believed in wisdom and in the God of wisdom, +than the late ones, when worldly success has spoiled him! + +II. Verses 9-13 give the divine retribution announced. The immediate +connection of sin and punishment is the teaching intended by this close +juxtaposition of these two halves of our narrative. However long the +chastisement may be in bursting, the divine resolve to send it is +instantaneously consequent on the crime. The chain that binds departure +from God with loss of blessing may be of many or few links, but it is +riveted on when the evil is done. How gravely, as with the voice of an +indictment drawn in heaven, the aggravations of Solomon's crime are set +out, in that he had sinned against 'the Lord' who had appeared to him +twice (once in his youthful vision, and once after the completion of +the Temple), 'and had commanded him concerning' the very sin that he +had done. Sin is made more heinous by the abundance of God's favours +and the plainness of His commands. If we would remember God's +appearances to us and for us, and meditate on His revealed will, we +should be more impregnable to the assaults of temptation. + +We do not learn _how_ the Lord said this to Solomon. Possibly it +was by the same prophet who afterwards announced to Jeroboam his +destiny; but, however announced, it seems to have been received in +sullen silence, and to have wrought no softening nor change. Like all +God's threatenings, it was spoken that it might not be inflicted. +Solomon was threatened before the prophet spoke to Jeroboam; and if +Solomon had repented, Jeroboam would never have been spoken to. But he +is too far gone to be stopped, though he has God's own word for it that +he is ruining his kingdom by his sin. We have as clear declarations of +worse results from ours; but they do not stop some of us. How strange +it is that men will put out their hands to grasp their sins, even +though they have to stretch across the smoke of the pit for them! + +Note how forbearance delays and diminishes retribution. The separation +of the kingdom is deferred, and one tribe is left to the Davidic house; +probably Judah is meant, and Benjamin is omitted as being small. +Observe, too, how we have a double instance of the law of God's +providence which visits the father's deeds on the children. The +consequences of David's goodness fall on Solomon, and the consequences +of Solomon's evil fall on Rehoboam. Stated in the language of the +secular historian, that is to say that the consequences of great +national virtues or crimes are seldom reaped by the generation that +sowed the seed and did the deed, but take time to mature and work +themselves out. Stated in the language of Scripture, it is, 'The +fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on +edge.' The separation of the kingdom was not brought about by miracle, +but came in the natural course of things. A people ground down by heavy +taxation and forced labour, to keep up the luxury of a court containing +all that disgusting crowd of wives and concubines, was ripe for revolt, +and when the sceptre fell into the hands of a headstrong fool, and +there was a capable leader on the other side, discontent soon became +rebellion, and rebellion soon became triumphant. It all flowed as +naturally as possible from the same fountain as the idolatry of which +it was the punishment; and so it teaches once more the great truth that +'the world's history is the world's judgment,' and that the so-called +'natural consequences' of our deeds are, even here and now, God's +retribution for our deeds. + +What a lesson as to God's great patience is here! What a solemn glimpse +into man's power to counterwork God's purpose! So soon after its +establishment did the house of David prove unworthy, and the experiment +fail. Yet that long-suffering purpose is not turned aside, but +persistently and patiently goes on its way, altering its methods, but +keeping its end unaltered, bending even sin to minister to its design, +pitying and warning the sinner ere it strikes the blow that the sinner +has made needful. + +Behind the figure of Solomon we see another. The wisest of men fell +shamefully, captured by coarse lust, and apparently steeled against all +remonstrances from Heaven. 'A greater than Solomon is here.' The faults +of the human kings of Israel prophesy of the true King, who is to be +the substance of which they were but faint shadows, and whose manhood +was stained by no flaw, nor His kingdom ever rent from His pure hands. +Solomon was wise, but Christ is 'Wisdom.' Solomon built a Temple, but +also altars to false gods overtopping it across the valley; and his +Temple was burned with fire. But Christ is the true Temple as well as +Priest and Sacrifice. Solomon was by name 'the peaceful,' and his land +had outward rest, darkened at the last by war and rebellion. But Christ +is the Prince of Peace, and of His dominion there shall be no end. +Solomon is the great example of the sad truth that the loftiest and +wisest share in the universal sinfulness. Christ is the one flawless +Man, who makes those who take Him for their King wise and peaceful, +prosperous, and in due time sinless, like Himself. + + + + +THE NEW GARMENT BENT + +'And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's +servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted +up his hand against the king. 27. And this was the cause that he lifted +up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the +breaches of the city of David his father. 28. And the man Jeroboam was +a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was +industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of +Joseph. 29. And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of +Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; +and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in +the field: 30. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and +rent it in twelve pieces: 31. And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten +pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend +the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to +thee: 32. (But he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake, and +for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the +tribes of Israel:) 33. Because that they have forsaken Me, and have +worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of +the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not +walked in My ways, to do that which is right in Mine eyes, and to keep +My statutes and My judgments, as did David his father. 34. Howbeit I +will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him +prince all the days of his life for David My servant's sake, whom I +chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes: 35. But I will +take the kingdom out of his ion's hand, and will give it unto thee, +even ten tribes. 36. And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David +My servant may have a light alway before Me in Jerusalem, the city +which I have chosen Me to put My name there. 37. And I will take thee, +and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt +be king over Israel. 38. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all +that I command thee, and wilt walk in My ways, and do that is right in +My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant +did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built +for David, and will give Israel unto thee. 39. And I will for this +afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 40. Solomon sought +therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, +unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of +Solomon. 41. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, +and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of +Solomon? 42. And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all +Israel was forty years. 43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was +buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in +his stead.'--1 KINGS xi. 26-43. + +Solomon falls into the background in the last part of the story of his +reign, and his enemies are more prominent than himself. So long as he +walked with God, he was of importance for the historian; but as soon as +he forsook God, and was consequently forsaken of His wisdom, he becomes +as insignificant as an empty vessel which has once held sweet perfume, +or a piece of carbon through which the electric current has ceased to +flow. The sunbeam has left that peak, and shines on other summits. +Never was there a sadder eclipse. + +We are here told first how the instrument for shattering Solomon's +kingdom was shaped by himself. It is the old story of a young man of +mark, attracting the eyes of the king, being promoted to offices of +trust, which at once stir ambition, and give prominence and influence +which seem to afford a possibility of gratifying it. The passion for +building, so common in Eastern kings, and the cause of so much misery +to their subjects, had grown on Solomon; and as his later days were +harassed by war, and he had lost the safe defence of God's arm, +Jerusalem had to be enclosed by a wall. His father had been able to +leave a 'breach' because the Lord was a wall round him and his city; +and if Solomon had kept in his paths, he would have had no need to add +to the fortifications. The preservation of ancestral piety is for +nations and individuals a surer protection than the improvement of +ancestral outward defences. Jeroboam made himself conspicuous by his +energy (for that rather than 'valour' must be the meaning of the word), +and so got promotion. It was natural, but at the same time dangerous, +to put him in command of the forced labour of his own tribe, as the +narrative shows us was done; for 'the house of Joseph' is the tribe of +Ephraim, to which, according to the correct translation of verse 26, he +belonged. In such an office he would be thrown among his kinsmen, and +would at once gain influence and learn to sympathise with their +discontent, or, at any rate, to know where the sore places were, if he +ever wanted to inflame them. One can easily fancy the grumblings of the +Ephraimites dragged up to Jerusalem to the hated labour, which Samuel +had predicted (1 Samuel viii. 16), and how facile it would be for the +officer in charge to fan discontent or to win friends by judicious +indulgence. How long this went on we do not know, but the fire had +smouldered for some time under the unconscious king's very eyes, when +it was fanned into a flame by Ahijah's breath. + +That is the second stage in the story,--the spark on the tinder. We +have heard nothing of prophets during Solomon's reign; but now this man +from Shiloh, the ancient seat of the Tabernacle, meets the ambitious +young officer in some solitary spot, with the message which answered to +his secret thoughts and made his heart beat fast. The symbolic action +preceding the spoken word, as usual, supplied the text, of which the +word was the explanation and expansion. How pathetic is the newness of +the garment! Unworn, strong, and fresh, it yet is rent in pieces. So +the kingdom is so recent, with such possibilities of duration, and yet +it must be shattered! Thus quickly has the experiment broken down! It +is little more than a century since Saul's anointing, little more than +seventy years since the choice of David, and already the fabric, which +had such fair promise of perpetuity, is ready to vanish away. If we may +say so, that 'new garment' represents the divine disappointment and +sorrow over the swift corruption of the kingdom. It was probably merely +some loose square of cloth which Ahijah tore, with violence +proportioned to its newness, into twelve pieces, ten of which he thrust +into the astonished Jeroboam's hands. The commentary followed. + +Ahijah's prophecy is substantially the same as the previous +threatenings to Solomon, which had done no good. Their incipient +fulfilment in the wars with Edom and Syria had been equally futile; and +therefore God, who never strikes without warning, and never warns +without striking if men do not heed, now drops the message into ears +that were only too ready to hear. The seed fell on prepared soil, and +Jeroboam's half-formed plans would be consolidated and fixed. The scene +is like that in which the witches foretell to Macbeth his dignity. +Slumbering ambitions are stirred, and a half-inclined will is finally +determined by the glimpse into the future. How easily men are persuaded +that God speaks, and how willing they are to obey, when their +inclinations jump with Heaven's commandments! The prophet's message +makes the separation of the kingdoms a direct divine act, and yet it +was the breaking up of a divine institution. God's dealings have to be +shaped according to facts, and He changes His methods, and lets the +feebleness of His creatures and their sins mould His august procedure. +The divine Potter, like mere human artisans, has His spoiled pieces of +work, and, with infinite resource and patience as infinite, re-shapes +the clay into other forms. The separation of the kingdoms was a divine +act, and yet it is treated often in the later books as a crime and +rebellion. God works out His purposes through men's deeds, and their +motives determine whether their acts are sins or obedience. A man may +be a rebel while he is doing the will of God, if what he does be done +at the bidding of his own selfishness. The separation of the kingdoms +was God's doing, but it was brought about by the free action of men +obeying most secular impulses of political discontent, and led by a +cunning, self-seeking schemer. + +Note that the prophecy is in three parts. First, verses 31-33 announce +the punishment, with the reservation of a dwindled dominion to the +Davidic house, for the sake of their great ancestor and of God's choice +of Jerusalem, and solemnly charge on the people the idolatry which the +king had introduced. The second part (verses 34-36) postpones the +execution of the sentence till after Solomon's death, and assigns the +same two reasons for this further forbearance. The third part (verses +37-39) promises Jeroboam the kingdom, and lays down the conditions on +which the favours promised to David and his house may be his. The whole +closes with the assurance that the affliction of the seed of David is +not to be for ever. + +The punishment was heavy; for the disruption of the kingdom meant the +wreck of all the prosperity of Solomon's earlier days, the hopeless +weakness of the divided tribes as against the formidable powers that +pressed in on them from north and south, frequent intestine wars, +bitter hatred instead of amity. Yet there was another side to it; for +the very failure of the human kings made the Messianic hope the more +bright, like a light glowing in the deepening darkness, and tumult and +oppression might teach those whom prosperity and peace had only +corrupted. The great lesson for us is the ruin which follows on +departure from God. We do not see national sins followed with equal +plainness or swiftness by national judgments; but the history of Israel +is meant to show on a large scale what is always true, in the long run, +both for nations and for individuals, that 'it is an evil thing and a +bitter' to depart from the living God. + +Mark, too, that the judgment is wrought out by perfectly natural +causes. The separation follows old lines of cleavage. The strength of +David's kingdom lay in the south; and Ephraim was too powerful a tribe +and too proud of its ancient glories, to acquiesce cheerfully in the +pre-eminence of Judah. The oppression of forced labour and heavy +taxation was put forward as the reason for the revolt, and, no doubt, +was the reason for the readiness with which the ten tribes rallied to +Jeroboam's flag. There are two ways of writing history. You can either +leave God out, or trace all to Him. The former way calls itself +'scientific' and 'positive.' The latter is the Bible way. Perhaps, if +modern history were written on the same principles as the Books of +Kings, the divine hand would be as plainly visible,--only it requires +an inspired historian to do it. The way of bringing about the judgment +for departing from God has changed, but the judgment remains the same +to-day as when Ahijah rent his garment. + +Between verses 39 and 40 we must suppose an attempt at armed rebellion +by Jeroboam. That is implied by the expression that he 'lifted his hand +against the king' (verses 26, 27). That attempt must have been put down +by Solomon. And that it should have been made shows how little Jeroboam +was influenced by religious motives. The prophet's words had set him +all afire with ambitious hopes, and he paid no heed to the distinct +assurance that Solomon was to be 'prince all the days of his life.' He +stretched out a rash, self-willed hand to snatch the promised crown, +and broke God's commandment even while he pretended to be keeping it. +How different David's conduct in like circumstances! He took no steps +to bring about the fulfilment of Samuel's promise at his anointing, but +patiently waited for God to do as He had said, in His own time, and +meantime continued his lowly work. God's time is the best time; and he +who greedily grasps at a premature fulfilment of promised good will +have to pay for it by defeat and exile from the modest good that he +had. + +Jeroboam's flight to Egypt brings that ill-omened name on the page for +the first time since the Exodus. It has given occasion to an +extraordinary addition to the Septuagint, professing to tell his +adventures there,--how he was high in Shishak's favour, and married a +princess. That is apparently pure legend; but his residence there was +important, as the beginning of Egypt's interference in Israel's +affairs. It is an old trick of aggressive nations to side with a +pretender to the throne of a country which they covet, and benevolently +to strengthen him that he may weaken it. No doubt it was as Jeroboam's +ally that Shishak invaded Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam, and +plundered the Temple and the palace. It was a bad beginning for a king +of Israel to be a pensioner of Egypt. + +The narrative closes with the sad, reticent formula which ends each +reign, and in Solomon's case hides so much that is tragic and dark. +This was all that could be said about the end of a career that had +begun so nobly. If more had been said, the record would have been +sadder; and so the pitying narrative casts the veil of the stereotyped +summary over the miserable story. There are many instances in history +of lives of genius and enthusiasm, of high promise and partial +accomplishment, marred and flung away, but none which present the great +tragedy of wasted gifts, and blossoms never fruited, in a sharper, more +striking form than the life of the wise king of Israel, who 'in his +latter days' was 'a fool.' The goodliest vessel may be shipwrecked in +sight of port. Solomon was not an old man, as we count age, when he +died; for he reigned forty years, and was somewhere about twenty when +he became king. But it was 'when he was old' that he fell, and that +through passion which should have been well under control long before. +The sun went down in a thick bank of clouds, which rose from undrained +marshes in his soul, and stretched high up in the western horizon. His +career, in its glory and its shame, preaches the great lesson which the +Book of Ecclesiastes puts into his mouth as 'the conclusion of the +whole matter': 'Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the +whole duty of man.' + + + + +HOW TO SPLIT A KINGDOM + +And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to +make him king. 2. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, +who was yet in Egypt, heard of it (for he was fled from the presence of +king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt); 3. That they sent and +called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and +spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4. Thy father made our yoke grievous: now +therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy +yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 6. And he +said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And +the people departed. 6. And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, +that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How +do ye advise that I may answer this people? 7. And they spake unto him, +saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt +serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they +will be thy servants for ever. 8. But he forsook the counsel of the old +men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that +were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 9. And he said unto +them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have +spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us +lighter? 10. And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto +him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto +thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter +unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be +thicker than my father's loins. 11. And now whereas my father did lade +you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath +chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12. +So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the +king had appointed, saying, 'Come to me again the third day. 13. And +the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel +that they gave him; 14. And spake to them after the counsel of the +young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to +your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise +you with scorpions. 15. Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the +people; for the cause was from the Lord, that He might perform His +saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the +son of Nebat. 16. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not +unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we +in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your +tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed +unto their tents. 17. But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in +the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.'--1 KINGS xii. 1-17. + + + +The separation of the kingdom of Solomon into two weak and hostile +states is, in one aspect, a wretched story of folly and selfishness +wrecking a nation, and, in another, a solemn instance of divine +retribution working its designs by men's sins. The greater part of this +account deals with it in the former aspect, and shows the despicable +motives of the men in whose hands was the nation's fate; but one +sentence (verse 15) draws back the curtain for a moment, and shows us +the true cause. There is something very striking in that one flash, +which reveals the enthroned God, working through the ignoble strife +which makes up the rest of the story. This double aspect of the +disruption of the kingdom is the main truth about it which the +narrative impresses on us. + +As to the mere details of the incident, as a political revolution, they +are in four stages. First come the terms of allegiance offered to the +new king. Rehoboam goes to Shechem, because 'Israel was gone' there. +The choice of the place is suspicious; for it was in the tribe of +Ephraim, and had been for a time the centre of national life; and its +selection at once indicated discontent with the preponderance of +Jerusalem, and a wish to assert the importance of the central tribes. +No doubt, the choice of the latter city for the capital had caused +heart-burning, even during David's time. + +Adopting the reading of the Revised Version, we see another suspicious +sign in the recall of Jeroboam, and his selection as spokesman; for he +had been in rebellion against Solomon (1 Kings xi. 26), and therefore +an exile. Probably he had now been the instigator of the discontent of +which he became the mouthpiece; and, in any case, his appearance as the +leader was all but a declaration of war. His former occupation as +superintendent of the forced labour exacted from his own tribe taught +him where the shoe pinched, and the weight of the yoke would not be +lessened in his representations. + +No doubt, the luxury and splendour of Solomon's brilliant reign had an +under side of oppression, even though forced labour was not exacted +from Israelites (1 Kings ix. 22); but probably the severity was +exaggerated in these complaints, which were plainly the pretext for a +revolt of which tribal jealousy was the main cause, and Jeroboam's +ambition the spark that set light to the train. Certainly there was +ignoring of the benefits of the peaceful reign, which had brought +security and commerce. But there was enough truth in the complaint to +make it plausible and effective for catching the people. Had they a +right to suspend their allegiance on compliance with their terms? + +Israel was neither a despotism, nor simply a constitutional monarchy. +God appointed the kings, and had ordained the Davidic house to the +throne; and therefore this making terms was, in effect, asserting +independence of God's will. Jeroboam was scheming for a crown. The +people were shaking off their submission to God. It is very doubtful if +concession would have conciliated them. There is nothing elevated, not +to say religious, in their motives or acts. + +Then comes Rehoboam on the scene. The one sensible thing that he did +was to take three days to think. Whether or no his little finger was +thicker than his father's loins, his head was not half so wise. +Ecclesiastes, speaking in Solomon's name, reckons it a great evil that +he must leave his labour to his successor; 'and who knoweth whether he +shall be a wise man or a fool?' Certainly Rehoboam had little 'wisdom' +either of the higher or lower kind. It was the lower kind which the old +counsellors of his father gave him,--that wisdom which is mere cunning +directed to selfish ends, and careless of honour or truth. 'Flatter +them to-day, speak them fair, promise what you do not mean to keep, and +then, when you are firm in the saddle, let them feel bit and spur.' +That was all these grey-headed men had learned. If that was what passed +for 'wisdom' in Solomon's later days, we need not wonder at revolt. + +To act on such motives is bad enough, but to put them into plain words, +and offer them as the rule of a king's conduct, is a depth of cynical +contempt for truth and kingly honour that indicates only too clearly +how rotten the state of Israel was. Have we never seen candidates for +Parliament and the like on one side of the water, and for Congress, +Senate, or Presidency on the other, who have gone to school to the old +men at Shechem? The prizes of politicians are often still won by this +stale device. The young counsellors differ only in the means of gaining +the object. Neither set has the least glimmer of the responsibility of +the office, nor ever thinks that God has any say in choosing the king. +Naked, undisguised selfishness animates both; only, as becomes their +several ages, the one set recommends crawling and the other bluster. +Think of Saul hiding among the staff, David going back to his sheep +after he was anointed, Solomon praying for wisdom to guide this people, +and measure the depth of descent to this ignoble scramble for the +sweets of royalty! + +According to I Kings xiv. 21, Rehoboam was forty-one at this time, so +his contemporaries could not have been very young. But possibly the +number in the present text is an error for twenty-one, which would +agree better with the tone of the reference to age here, and with the +rash counsel. Note the recurrence, both in Rehoboam's question in verse +9 and in the young advisers' answer in verse 10, of the obnoxious +speech of the people. That may be accidental, but it sounds as if both +he and they were keeping their anger warm by repeating the offensive +complaint. + +The Revised Version reads, 'My little finger is thicker,' etc., and so +makes the sentence not a threat, but the foundation of the following +threat in an arrogant and empty assertion of greater power. The fool +always thinks himself wiser than the wise dead; the 'living dog' +fancies that his yelp is louder than the roar of 'the dead lion.' What +can be done with a Rehoboam who brags that he is better than Solomon? + +The threat which follows is inconceivably foolish; and all the more so +because it probably did not represent any definite intention, and +certainly was backed by no force adequate to carry it out. Passion and +offended dignity are the worst guides for conduct. Threats are always +mistakes. A sieve of oats, not a whip, attracts a horse to the halter. +If Rehoboam had wished to split the kingdom, he could have found no +better wedge than this blustering promise of tyranny. + +Next in this miserable story of imbecility and arrogance comes the +answer to the assembly. Shechem had seen many an eventful hour, but +never one heavier with important issues than that on which the united +Israel met for the last time, and there, in the rich valley with Ebal +and Gerizim towering above them, heard the fateful answer of this +braggart. A dozen rash words brought about four hundred years of +strife, weakness, and final destruction. And neither the foolish +speaker nor any man in that crowd dreamed of the unnumbered evils to +flow from that hour. Since issues are so far beyond our sight, how +careful it becomes us to be of motives! Angry counsels are always +blunders. No nation can prosper when moderate complaints are met by +threats, and 'spirited conduct,' asserting dignity, is a sign of +weakness, not of strength. For nations and individuals that is true. + +Here the historian draws back the curtain. On earth stand the insolent +king and the now mutinous people, each driving at their ends, and +neither free of sin in their selfishness. A stormy scene of passion, +without thought of God, rages below, and above sits the Lord, working +His great purpose by men's sin. That divine control does not in the +least affect the freedom or the guilt of the actors. Rehoboam's +disregard of the people's terms was 'a thing brought about of the +Lord,' but it was Rehoboam's sin none the less. That which, looked at +from the mere human side, is the sinful result of the free play of +wrong motives, is, when regarded from the divine side, the determinate +counsel of God. The greatest crime in the world's history was at the +same time the accomplishment of God's most merciful purpose. Calvary is +the highest example of the truth, which embraces all lesser instances +of the wrath of man, which He makes to praise Him and effect His deep +designs. + +Again, the rending of the kingdom was the punishment of sin, especially +Solomon's sin of idolatry, which was closely connected with the +extravagant expenditure that occasioned the separation. So the so- +called natural consequences of transgression constitute its temporal +punishment in part, and behind all these our eyes should be clear- +sighted enough to behold the operative will of God. This one piercing +beam of light, cast on that scene of insolence and rebellion, lights up +all history, and gives the principle on which it must be interpreted, +if it is not to be misread. + +Again, the punishment of sin, whether that of a community or of a +single person, is sin. The separation was sin, on both sides; it led to +much more. It was the consequence of previous departure. So ever the +worst result of any sin is that it opens the door, like a thief who has +crept in through a window, to a band of brethren. + +Lastly, we have the fierce rejoinder to the empty boast of Rehoboam, +and the definitive disruption of the nation. Jeroboam must have fanned +the flame skilfully, or it would not have burst out so quickly. There +is no hesitation, nor any regret. The ominous cry, which had been heard +before, in Sheba's abortive revolt, answers Rehoboam with instantaneous +and full-throated defiance. Rancorous tribal hatred is audible in it. +Long pent up jealousy and dislike of the dynasty of David has got +breath at last: 'To your tents, O Israel! now see to thine own house, +David!' + +That roar from a thousand voices meant a good deal more than the cowed +king's vain threats did. The angry men who raised it, and were the +tools of a crafty conspirator, the frightened courtiers and king who +heard it, were alike in their entire oblivion of their true Lord and +Monarch. 'God was not in all their thoughts.' An enterprise begun in +disregard of Him is fated to failure. The only sure foundations of a +nation are the fear of the Lord and obedience to His will. If politics +have not a religious basis, the Lord will blow upon them, and they will +be as stubble. + + + + +POLITICAL RELIGION + +'Then Jeroboam built Shechera in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and +went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26. And Jeroboam said in his +heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27. If this +people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, +then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even +unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to +Rehoboam king of Judah. 28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made +two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up +to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of +the land of Egypt. 29. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put +he in Dan. 30. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to +worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31. And he made an house of high +places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of +the sons of Levi. 32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth +month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is +in Judah; and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, +sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed In Beth-el +the priests of the high places which he had made. 33. So he offered +upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the +eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; +and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon +the altar, and burnt incense.--1 KINGS xii. 25-33 + + +The details of this section need no long elucidation; for the one fact +which it records, namely, the establishment of the calf worship in +Israel, is the main point to consider. As for details, we need touch +them lightly. The 'building' of Shechem and Penuel is probably to be +understood as 'fortifying'; for, in regard to the former town, we know +from the preceding section that it _was_ a town before the +disruption, and the same is probably true of the latter. Two +fortresses, one in the heart of his kingdom, one on the eastern border, +where attack might be expected, were Jeroboam's first care. + +In estimating his conduct, the fact must be remembered that Ahijah had +promised him God's protection and the establishment of his kingdom in +his family, on the sole condition of obedience. If he had believed the +prophet, something else than building strongholds would have been his +prime aim. But he evidently thought that promises were all very well, +but thick walls were better. The two things recorded of him are quite +of a piece; and the writer seems, by putting them thus side by side, to +wish us to note their identity of motive and similarity in character. + +The establishment of the calf worship was entirely due, according to +this historian, to dread that religious unity would heal the schism of +political duality, and that Jeroboam's kingdom and life would be +sacrificed to the magnetism which would draw the revolted northern +tribes back to render allegiance, where they went up to worship. The +calculation was reasonable: but why, in estimating chances, did +Jeroboam leave out God's promise? That should have kept him at ease. +The calves and the castles were signs of fear and of slight regard to +the prophet's word. No doubt, when it suited him, he could vindicate +rebellion on the plea of obeying God. The plea would have sounded more +genuine if he had shown that he trusted God. + +The calves were probably suggested by his Egyptian experiences, where +he had seen sacred bulls worshipped living, and mummied dead. But the +remembrance of Aaron and the golden calf was evidently present to him, +as the almost verbal quotation of Aaron's words shows. If so, the whole +transaction is still more accentuated as a revolt against the ritual of +the central sanctuary. 'The much-calumniated Aaron is our example. He +was mastered by his brother, but he was right, and we go back to the +old original worship of our fathers.' + +Jeroboam was among the first to employ the expedient, so often resorted +to since, of white-washing old-world criminals, in order to provide an +ancestry for modern heresies. The calves seem to have been doubled +simply as a matter of convenience. When once the principle of saving +trouble comes in, in religion, it generally plays a great part. If it +were too much to go to Jerusalem, it would soon be too much to go to +Bethel, and so Dan must be provided for the north. The calves were +symbols of Jehovah, not of other gods, as must be carefully noted. The +making of them implied all that followed; for a god must have shrine +and priesthood and sacrifice and festivals. The Levites refusing to +serve, and probably losing their inheritance, fled to Judah, and a new +priesthood was made 'from among all the people' (Rev. Ver.), The Feast +of Tabernacles was retained but its date shifted forward a month, +perhaps because the harvest, which it closed, was later in the north, +but evidently with the design of, as it were, underscoring the +religious separation. + +The latter part of this passage should perhaps be attached more closely +to the next chapter, and understood as describing the one instance of +Jeroboam's sacrificing which was so grimly interrupted by the +denunciation by the anonymous prophet from Judah. Such are the outlines +of the facts. What are the lessons taught by them? + +I. There is that one already mentioned,--the folly and sin of seeking +to help God to fulfil His promises by our poor efforts at making their +fulfilment sure to sense. No doubt many of His promises are contingent +on our activity in material things; and no man has a right to expect +that' his bread shall be given him,' for instance, unless he +contributes the 'sweat of his brow' towards it. But Jeroboam had had +the conditions of safety and stability clearly laid down. They were, +obedience after the pattern of David (1 Kings xi. 38). So there was no +need for building Shechem and Penuel, nor for casting calves and +serving them. The heavens will stand without our rearing brickwork +pillars to hold them up. But it takes much faith to trust God's bare +word, and we are all apt to feel safer if we have something for sense +to grasp. On the open plain, God guards those who trust Him more +securely than if they lay in cities 'fenced up to heaven. 'Jerusalem +shall be inhabited as towns without walls. ... For I, saith the Lord, +will be unto her a wall of fire round about.' + +II. Another lesson taught here is the sin of degrading religion to be a +mere instrument for securing personal ends. Jeroboam has had many +followers among politicians, The average 'statesman' looks on all +religions as equally true or untrue, and is ready to be polite to any +of them, if he can carry his measures thereby. The long history of the +relations of Church and State in the Old World has been little else +than the State's hiring and muzzling the Church for its own advantage, +and the protests of a faithful few against the degradation of State +patronage and consequent control. + +In England, Jeroboam and his calves used to be the favourite shocking +example of the sin of schism, with which High Church orators were fond +of pelting Nonconformists. The true lesson from him and them is +precisely the opposite one; namely, the weakening of religion, when it +is favoured and endowed by the civil power. The priests of Bethel, who +were the creatures of Jeroboam, were not likely to be his or his +successors rebukers. When Amos the prophet spoke bold words against a +king, it was Amaziah the priest who gave the shameful counsel, 'O thou +seer, flee into the land of Judah, and prophesy there; but prophesy no +more at Bethel: for it is the king's sanctuary.' Is there no such thing +known as a flaming profession of religion, because it is respectable, +or opens the way to some good position? Does nobody pose in public, +especially about election times, as a liberal supporter of Churches and +a devout Church-member, with an eye mainly to votes? Do political +parties think it a good thing to get the religious people to go for +their ticket? Or, to take less base instances, is there not a whole +school who estimate Christianity mainly as valuable as a social force, +and, without any deep personal recognition of its loftier aspects, +think it well that it should be generally accepted, especially by other +people, as it makes them easier to govern, and cements the social +fabric? + +Christianity is something more than social cement. Jeroboam's policy +was a great success, as policy. It both united his kingdom and +definitively separated it from Judah. But it was a success purchased at +the price of degrading religion into the lackey of a court. Samson went +to sleep on Delilah's lap, and she cut off the clustering locks in +which his strength lay. + +III. The true nature of idolatry is brought out in the incident. +Jeroboam did not draw Israel away to worship other gods. No charge of +that sort is ever made against the calf worship. The images were meant, +just as Aaron's, of which they were a reproduction, was meant, to be +symbols of Jehovah. The true object of worship was worshipped in a +false way. No matter though the image represented Him, its worship was +idol worship. There is no ground in the narrative for the surmise of +Stanley,--who in this, as usual, simply says ditto to Ewald,--that +Jeroboam's motive was the desire to prevent Israel's adopting false +gods, and that the calves were a compromise by which he hoped to stem +the tide of apostasy to Baal worship. The single motive stated in the +text is policy inspired by fear. Jeroboam did not care enough about the +worship of Jehovah to mould his statecraft with the view of conserving +it. If he had so cared, he could not have set up the calves. His doing +so is uniformly regarded in Scripture as idolatry pure and simple; and +though it is clearly distinguished from the worship of false gods, it +is none the less branded as rebellion against Jehovah. + +A visible representation of Jehovah was as much an idol as a similar +one of Baal would have been. It necessarily degraded the conception of +Him. It brought sense into dangerous prominence as an aid to worship. +The symbol might at first, and to the more devout, be a mere symbol, +and transparent; but it would soon become opaque, and from symbol turn +embodiment, and thence pass to being the very deity represented. It is +a feat of abstraction impossible for the ordinary man, to worship +before an idol, and not to worship the idol. The strange, awful +fascination which idolatry exercised is perhaps gone now from the +civilised world. But the lesson remains ever in season, that it is +dangerous work to bring in sense as an ally of devotion, because +outward things, which at first may be only symbols and helps, are +almost certain to become something more. + +IV. Jeroboam may stand, finally, as a type of the men who suppose +themselves to be worshipping God when they are only following their own +wills. All his ceremonial had this damning characteristic, that it was +'devised of his own heart'; and so it was himself that was enshrined in +his new house of the high places, and himself to whom the sacrifices +were offered. Absolute obedience to God's will, whatever perils may +seem to attend it, is true worship. Wherever apparent devotion to Him +is mingled with burning incense to our own net, the mixture ruins the +devotion. 'Obedience is better than sacrifice.' Temptations to take our +own way will often appear as the dictates of sound policy, and to +neglect them as culpable carelessness. But such paltering with plain +commandments is as ruinous as sinful, and is not to be atoned for by +outward worship. + +What did Jeroboam win by his intrusion of self-will into the region +which ought to be sacred to perfect obedience? A troubled reign and the +destruction of his house after one generation. One more thing he won; +namely, that terrible epithet, which becomes almost a part of his name, +'Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.' What a title to +be branded on a man's forehead for ever! It is always a mistake to +disobey God. Every sin is a blunder as well as a crime. This only is +the safe motto for churches and individuals, in all the details of +worship and of life: 'Lo, I come to do Thy will, O Lord, and Thy law is +within my heart.' + + + + +THE RECORD OF TWO KINGS + +'In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign +over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24. And he +bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built +on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the +name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25. But Omri wrought evil +in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. +26. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in +his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of +Israel to anger with their vanities. 27. Now the rest of the acts of +Omri which he did, and his might that he shewed, are they not written +in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28. So Omri slept +with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned +in his stead. 29. And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of +Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son +of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. 30. And +Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that +were before him. 31. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light +thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he +took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethibaal king of the Zidonians, +and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32. And he reared up an +altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33. +And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of +Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.'-1 +KINGS xvi. 23-33. + + +Jeroboam's son and successor was killed by Baasha, Baasha's son and +successor was killed by Zimri, who reigned for a week, and then burned +the palace and died in the flames. A struggle for the throne followed +between Omri, the commander-in-chief, and Tibni, 'Tibni died, and Omri +reigned.' So, in fifty years, the kingdom that was to relieve Israel +from oppression staggered through seas of blood, and four kings, or +would-be kings, died by violence. + +Omri's dynasty lasted about as long, namely, through the reigns of four +kings, and was then swept away like the others, in blood and fire. The +text gives a meagre outline of the reigns of himself and his son Ahab, +of which perhaps the meagreness is the most significant feature. The +only fact told of the father is that he built Samaria, and his whole +reign is summed up in the damning sentence that he 'walked in the way +of Jeroboam.' We learn from the Moabite stone that he waged successful +war against that country, and that it was tributary to Israel for forty +years. In Micah vi. 16, mention is made of the statutes of Omri, as if +he had given edicts for idolatry. The reign of Ahab is similarly +summarised. His marriage with Jezebel, and the flood of Baal worship +which that let loose over the land, are told with horror, in +preparation for Elijah's appearance like a dark background that throws +up a brilliant figure. + +The lessons to be drawn from these severely condensed records, cut down +to the bone, as it were, are plain. The first of them is, that when a +life is over, the one thing which lasts, or is worth thinking about, is +the man's relation to God and His will. Here are twelve years' reign in +the one case, and twenty-two in the other, all boiled down, so to +speak, into half a dozen sentences, and estimated according to one +standard only. What has become of all the eager strife, the joys and +sorrows, the hopes and fears, that burned so fiercely for awhile? All +died down into a handful of grey ashes. And what lies in them like a +lump of solid metal that has been melted out of the huge heap of days +and deeds that fed the fire? The man's relation to God. That abides; +that is recorded; that determines everything else about him. Waving +forests that once had sunshine pouring down on their green fronds are +represented in a thin seam of coal. Our lives will all come down to +this at last. How did he stand towards God and His will is the final +question that will be asked about each of us, and the answer to it is +the only thing that concerns the dead--or the living either. Men write +voluminous biographies of each other. How little their judgments matter +to the dead men! Praise or blame are equally indifferent to them. But +what matters is, whether God will have to record of us what is recorded +of these two wretched kings, or whether He will recognise that the main +drift of our poor lives was to serve Him and do His will. He was a +great scholar; he made a huge fortune; he rose to be a peer; she was a +noted beauty, a leader of fashion, a queen of society--what will all +such epitaphs be worth, if God's finger carves silently below them, 'He +did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord'? + +Another lesson from these two reigns is the certain widening of the +smallest departure from God. Jeroboam professed to retain the worship +of Jehovah, and to introduce only a small alteration in setting up a +symbol of Him. He would vehemently have asserted that he was no +idolater, and would have shuddered at the very notion of bowing down +to the gods of the nations, but in less than fifty years a temple to +the Sidonian Baal rose in Samaria, and his worship, with its foul +sensuality, was corrupting all Israel. However acute the angle of +departure, the line has only to be prolonged, and the distance between +it and that from which it diverged will be the distance between heaven +and hell, Let no one say: 'Thus far and no farther will I go.' There +is no stopping at will on that course, any more than a man sliding +down a steeply sloping sheet of smooth ice can pull himself up before +he plunges over the edge into the abyss below. That is true as to all +departures from God and His law, but it is eminently true as to every +tampering with the spirituality of worship. Jeroboam's symbolism led +straight to Ahab's unblushing pagan worship of the hideous Sidonian +Baal. The craving for symbolical and sensuous accessories of worship, +which is strong in most Churches in this aesthetic generation, is +perilous. Material aids to worship there must be, so long as we are in +the flesh, but the fewer and simpler they are the better, for they are +aids which very swiftly become hindrances. + +Another lesson from Ahab's reign is the need of detachment from +entangling alliances, if we would keep ourselves right with God. It +was Israel's calling to be separate from the nations. It was Israel's +temptation either to mix with them, or to keep aloof from them in +contempt and hatred. Ahab's marriage with Jezebel was, no doubt, +thought by his father a clever stroke of policy, assuring them of an +ally. But it flooded the nation with the cruel and lustful cult of +Baal, and that finally ruined Ahab and his house. God's servants can +never mingle themselves with His enemies without harm, unless they +mingle with them for the purpose of turning them into His servants. If +we prefer the company of those who do not love Jesus, our love to Him +must be faint, and will soon be fainter. If Ahab takes Jezebel for his +wife, Ahab will soon take Jezebel's foul god for his god. + + + + +A PROPHET'S STRANGE PROVIDERS + +'And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said +unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there +shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2. And +the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3. Get thee hence, and turn +thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before +Jordan. 4. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I +have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5. So he went and did +according unto the word of the Lord. for he went and dwelt by the brook +Cherith, that is before Jordan. 6. And the ravens brought him bread and +flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank +of the brook. 7. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook +dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8. And the word +of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, +which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a +widow woman there to sustain thee. 10. So he arose and went to +Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow +woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, +Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. +11. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring +me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12. And she said, As +the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a +barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two +sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may +eat it, and die. 13. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as +thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it +unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14. For thus saith +the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither +shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain +upon the earth. 15. And she went and did according to the saying of +Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16. And the +barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according +to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.'-1 KINGS xvii. 1-16. + + +The worst times need the best men. The reign of Ahab brought a great +outburst of Baal worship, imported by his Phoenician wife, which +threatened to sweep away every trace of the worship of Jehovah. The +feeble king was absolutely ruled by the strongwilled Jezebel, and +everything seemed rushing down to ruin. One man arrests the downward +movement, and with no weapon but his word, and no support but his own +dauntless courage, which was the child of his faith, works a revolution +in Israel. 'Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a +greater than' Elijah the Tishbite. Bugged, stern, solitary, he has no +commission to reveal new truth. He is not a 'prophet,' like later ones +whose words were revelation. + +Little is preserved of his sayings. His task was to reform and restore, +not to advance; and his endowments of 'spirit and power' corresponded +to his work. The striking peculiarities of this heroic figure will +appear as we go on with his history. For the present, we have to +consider the three points of this narrative. + +I. The Prophet and the King.--The startling suddenness of Elijah's leap +into the arena, where he appears without preface or explanation, helps +the impression of extraordinary force which his whole career makes. He +crashes into the midst of Ahab's court like a thunderbolt. What did +Jezebel think of this wild man from the other side of Jordan, with his +long hair and his loose mantle, who thus fronted Ahab and her? Nothing +is told us of his descent; it is even questionable whether the reading +which calls him 'the Tishbite' is correct. We only know that he was of +Gilead, and therefore used to a ruder, freer, simpler life than that in +kings' palaces. + +The natural conclusion from the narrative is that the prophet and the +king had never met before; and, if so, the stern brevity of the threat +is even more remarkable. In any case, the absence of explanation of +reasons for the drought, or of credentials of Elijah, or of offers of +mercy on condition of repentance, give a peculiarly grim aspect to the +message, and make it a dangerous one to carry to such a hearer as Ahab, +stirred up by Jezebel. When God commands us to speak, no thought of +peril must make us dumb. If the 'word of the Lord' is to sound from our +lips with power, it must first have absolute sway over ourselves. One +man with God at his back, who fears nothing, can work marvels. + +God's servant is men's master. The vision of God's Presence paled the +splendour, and blunted the perils, of the court of Samaria. Ahab was +but a poor puppet in the sight of eyes that 'saw the Lord sitting on +His throne, high and lifted up.' So the very first words of Elijah lay +bare the secret spring of his fiery energy and courage. 'Before whom I +stand,'--that is the thought to put nerve, daring, and disregard of +earth into a man. + +James's comment on this incident assumes that the declaration to Ahab +followed earnest prayer that it might not rain, and that the 'word' +which should end the drought was also prayer. The truest lover of his +country or of any men may sometimes have to wish for losses and +sorrows. Elijah did not open and shut the heavens, but his prayer had +power to move the Hand that 'openeth and no man shutteth.' + +II. The Prophet and the Ravens.--One would like to know how Elijah made +his escape from Ahab; but the whole story is marked by sudden +appearances and disappearances. He flashes into sight and flames for a +moment, and then is swallowed up in the dark again. The exact position +of the brook Cherith is doubtful. It would seem most natural to look +for it across Jordan, as safer and more familiar ground to Elijah than +any of the tributaries on the western side. At all events, somewhere +among the savage rocks in some wady with a trickle of water down it, +and rank vegetation that would help to hide him, he lurked for an +indefinite period, alone with God. + +Why did he flee? Not only for safety, but that the period of the +drought might be prolonged till it had done its work, and that the +prophet might learn more lessons for his calling. Good Obadiah would +have made a place for the chief of the prophets in his caves; but the +man who is to do work like Elijah's must live in solitude. Cherith was +part of the training for Carmel. The flight thither was as much an act +of obedient faith as was the appearance before the king. However the +necessity of flight was impressed on the prophet, it _was_ +impressed on him as manifestly not his own plan, but God's command; and +though the journey was a weary one, and the appointed place of refuge +inhospitable, the command was unhesitatingly obeyed. He was not left to +wonder how he was to be fed when he got there, but God gave him, what +He seldom gives--a previous assurance of miraculous provision, which +obviously met some unspoken thought. We do not usually know how we are +to be fed in the solitude till we get there; but if our doubting hearts +object, 'But, Lord, there is nothing at Cherith but a brook and some +ravens,' He sometimes gives us assurance that these will be enough. +Whether or no, the duty is the same,--to follow God's voice, whether it +take us face to face with Ahab and Jezebel or into the wild gorge. + +Note that the same words are employed about the ravens and the widow: +'I have commanded the... to feed thee.' God has ways of reaching the +mysterious animal instinct and the mysterious human will, and each, in +its own way, obeys. It is needless to try to pare down the miracle by +saying that, of course, ravens would haunt the water-courses in +drought, and that the food which they brought might be for their young, +and so on. The daily regularity of the supply takes it out of the +natural category, to say nothing of the remarkable breed which the +ravens must have been of, if they brought their young ones' food within +reach and let the prophet take it. + +People take offence at the abundance of miracles in the lives of Elijah +and Elisha, and assert that some of them, this among the rest, are for +unworthily trivial occasions. But the grave crisis in Israel is to be +taken into account, which involved the necessity for unusual +manifestations of divine power, and very evident credentials for the +prophets; and the preparation of Elijah for his tremendous struggle +was, even to our eyes, surely an adequate end for miracle. How could he +doubt that God had sent him and would care for him, with such memories +as those of his winged purveyors? How could he doubt future words which +should come to him, when he recalled how marvellously this one had been +fulfilled? The silence of the ravine, the long days and nights of +solitude, the punctual arrival of his food, would all tend to weld his +faith into yet more close-knit strength. If we may so say, it was worth +God's while to work miracles, to make Elijah. The highest end of +creation is the production of God-fearing men. All things serve the +soul that serves God. + +III. The Prophet and the Widow.--The little stream that came down the +wady dried up 'after a while'; and Elijah, no doubt, would wonder what +was to be done next, as he saw it daily sending a thinner thread to +Jordan. But he was not told till the channel was dry, and the pebbles +in its bed bleaching in the sun. God makes us sometimes wait on beside +a diminishing rivulet, and keeps us ignorant of the next step, till it +is dry. Patience is an element in strength. It was a far cry from +Cherith to Zarephath, right across the kingdom of Ahab; and to run for +refuge to a dependency of Zidon, Jezebel's country, looked like putting +his head in the lion's mouth. But the same 'command' which the ravens +had obeyed had smoothed his way. + +So he girded up his loins, and left, no doubt reluctantly, the brook +for a city. How his heart would bow in adoring thankfulness, when the +first person he saw outside the little 'city' was 'the widow'! He knew +her; did she know him? The natural interpretation of verse 9 is that, +at the time when God spoke to Elijah, he had already 'commanded' the +woman. But the despondent tone of her answer seems against that idea; +and perhaps we are to suppose that, just as the ravens were commanded +and knew not by whom, so this woman received the command, when she saw +the travel-stained and gaunt stranger, through her womanly impulses of +compassion, not knowing who moved them nor what she did when she +sheltered the man whose life was, at that moment, the most important in +the world. The motions of pity and charity are of God, and He commands +us to help when He sets before us those who need help. + +The whole incident was a lesson to the prophet. He might well have +thought that God had sent him to a strange helper in this poor widow +with her empty cupboard; and it must have taken some faith on his part +to reassure her with his cheery 'Fear not!' The prediction of the +undiminishing stores demanded as much faith from its speaker as from +its hearer. + +It was a lesson in faith for the woman too. Her use of the phrase 'the +Lord thy God' may imply some inclination to the worship of Jehovah, and +so there may have been a little glimmer of faith in her; but she was +full of sorrow and despair, and yet willing to help the stranger with +the 'little water in a vessel,' though the 'morsel of bread in thine +hand' was beyond her power. Elijah's apparently selfish demand that his +wants should be looked after first was a test of her faith. Sometimes +self-denying duty is made clearly imperative on us, before we hear the +promise which, believed, will make it easy. They who have ears to hear +the command, and hearts to obey, even if it seem to strip them of all, +will soon hear the assurance that secures abundance. The barrel would +have been empty by nightfall, if the meal in it had been used for the +woman and her son. The continuance of supply depended on her obedience, +which, in its turn, depended on faith in the prophet as a messenger of +God. 'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.' The use of earthly +goods for God's service may not be rewarded with the increase of them; +but, if the barrel is not kept full of meal, the heart will be kept +full of peace, which is better. No sacrifice for God is ever thrown +away. He remains in no man's debt. + +The incident has a further bearing, as an instance of a divine +benediction resting on heathendom. The synagogue at Nazareth pointed +that lesson for us. Elijah and the widow both learned that the God of +Israel is the God of all the earth, and that His prophets have a +mission to every race. The woman rebuked, by her pity and self-denying +benevolence, the prejudices of Israel; the prophet foreshadowed, by his +familiar abode with one won from idolatry to the worship of God, the +universal aspect of the Jewish religion, and its destiny to overleap +the narrow bounds of the nation. Charity and pity have no geographical +limits. Much less can the love of God and the light of His revelation +be bounded by any narrower circle than the circumference of the world. + + + + +ELIJAH STANDING BEFORE THE LORD + +And Elijah the Tishbite ... said ... As the Lord God of Israel liveth, +before whom I stand.--1 KINGS xvii. 1. + + +This solemn and remarkable adjuration seems to have been habitual upon +Elijah's lips in the great crises of his life. We never find it used by +any but himself, and his scholar and successor, Elisha. Both of them +employ it under similar circumstances, as if unveiling the very secret +of their lives, the reason for their strength, and for their undaunted +bearing and bold fronting of all antagonism. We find four instances in +their two lives of the use of the phrase. Elijah bursts abruptly on the +stage and opens his mouth for the first time to Ahab, to proclaim the +coming of that terrible and protracted drought; and he bases his +prophecy on that great oath, 'As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand.' +And again, when he is sent to confront Ahab once more at the close of +the period, the same mighty word comes, 'As the Lord of Hosts liveth, +before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him this day.' And +then again, Elisha, when he is brought before the three confederate +kings, who taunt, and threaten, and flatter, to try to draw smooth +things from his lips, and get his sanction to their mad warfare, turns +upon the poor creature that called himself the King of Israel with a +superb contempt that stayed itself on that same great name and tells +him, 'As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, were it not that I had +regard for the King of Judah, I would not look toward you or see you,' +And lastly, when the grateful Naaman seeks to change the whole +character of Elisha's miracle, and to turn it into the coarseness of a +thing done for reward, once again the temptation is brushed aside with +that solemn word, 'As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will +receive none.' + +So at every crisis where these prophets were brought full front with +hostile power; where a tremendous message was laid upon their hearts +and lips to utter; where natural strength would fail; where they were +likely to be daunted or dazzled by temptations, by either the sweetness +or the terrors of material things, these two great heroes of the Old +Covenant, out of sight the strongest men in the old Jewish history, +steady themselves by one thought,--God lives, and I am His servant. + +For that phrase, 'before whom I stand,' obviously means chiefly 'whom I +serve.' It is found, for instance, in Deuteronomy, where the priest's +office is thus defined: 'The sons of Levi shall stand before the Lord +to minister unto Him.' And in the same way, it is used in the Queen of +Sheba's wondering exclamation to Solomon, 'Blessed are thy servants, +and blessed are the men that stand before thy face continually.' + +So that the consciousness that they were servants of the living God was +the very secret of the power of these men. This expression, which thus +started to their lips in moments of strain and trial, lets us see into +the very inmost heart of their strength. These two great lives, which +fill so large a apace in the records of the past, and will be +remembered for ever, were braced and ennobled thus. The same grand +thought is available to brace and ennoble our little lives, that will +soon be forgotten but by a loving heart or two, and yet may be as full +of God and of God's service as those of any of the great of old. We too +may use this secret of power, 'The Lord liveth, before whom I stand.' + +What thoughts then, which may tend to lift and invigorate our days, are +included in these words? The first is surely this--Life a constant +vision of God's presence. + +How distinct and abiding must the vision of God have been, which burned +before the inward eye of the man that struck out that phrase! 'Wherever +I am, whatever I do, I am before Him. To my purged eye, there is the +Apocalypse of heaven, and I behold the great throne, and the solemn +ranks of ministering spirits, my fellow-servants, hearkening to the +voice of His word.' No excitement of work, no strain of effort, no +distraction of circumstances, no glitter of gold, no dazzle of earthly +brightness, dimmed that vision for these prophets. In some measure, it +was with them as it shall be perfectly with all one day, 'His servants +serve Him, and see His face,'--action not interrupting vision, nor +vision weakening action. To preserve thus fresh and unimpaired, amidst +strenuous work and many temptations, the clear consciousness of being +'ever in the great Taskmaster's eye,' needs resolute effort and much +self-restraint. It is hard to set the Lord always before us; but it is +possible, and in the measure in which we do it, we shall not be moved. + +How nobly the steadfastness and superiority to all temptations which +such a vision gives, are illustrated by the occasions, in these +prophets' lives, in which this expression came to their lips! The +servant of the Heavenly King speaks from his present intuition. As he +speaks, he sees the throne in the heavens, and the Sovereign Ruler +there, and the sight bears him up from quailing before the earthly +monarchs whom he had to beard, and in connection with whom three out of +the four instances of the use of the phrase occur. How small Ahab and +his court must have looked to eyes that were full of the undazzling +brightness of the true King of Israel, and the ordered ranks of +_His_ attendants! How little the greatness! How tawdry the pomp! +How impotent the power, and how toothless the threats! The poor show of +the earthly king paled before that awful vision, as a dim candle will +show black against the sun. 'I stand before the living God, and thou, O +Ahab! art but a shadow and a noise.' Just as we may have looked upon +some mountain scene, where all the highest summits were wrapt in mist, +and the lower hills looked mighty and majestic, until some puff of wind +came and rolled up the curtain that had shrined and hidden the icy +pinnacles and peaks that were higher up. And as that solemn white +apocalypse rose and towered to the heavens, we forgot all about the +green hills below, because our eyes beheld the mighty summits that live +amongst the stars, and sparkle white through eternity. + +My brethren, here is our defence against being led away by the gauds +and shows of earth's vulgar attractions, or being terrified by the poor +terrors of its enmity. Go with that talisman in your hand, 'The Lord +liveth, before whom I stand,' and everything else dwindles down into +nothingness, and you are a free man, master and lord of all things, +because you are God's servants, seeing all things aright, because you +see them all in God, and God in them all. + +Still further, we may say that this phrase is the utterance and +expression of a consciousness that life was echoing with the voice of +the divine command. Elijah stands before the Lord, not only feeling in +his thrilling spirit that God is ever near him, but also that His word +is ever coming forth to him, with imperative authority. That is the +prophet's conception of life. Wherever he is, he hears a voice saying, +'This is the way, walk ye in it.' Every place where he stands is as the +very holy place of the oracles of the Most High, the spot in the +innermost shrine where the voice of God is audible, All circumstances +are the voice of God, commanding or restraining. He is evermore +pursued, nay, rather upheld and guided, by an all-embracing law. That +law is no mere utterance of cold impersonal duty,--a thought which may +make men slaves, but never makes them good. But it is the voice of the +living God, loving and beloved, whose tender care for His children +modulates His tone, while He commands them for their good. He speaks +because He loves; His law is life. The heart that hears Him speak is +filled with music. + +Ahab and Jehoram, and all the kings of the earth, may thunder and +lighten, may threaten and flatter, may command and forbid, as they +list. They and their words are nought to him whose trembling ears have +heard, and whose obedient heart has received, a higher command, and to +whom, 'across the storm,' comes the deeper voice of the one true +Commander, whom alone it is a glory absolutely to obey, even 'the Lord, +before whom I stand.' People talk about the consciousness of 'a +mission.' The important point, on the settling of which depends the +whole character of our lives, is--Who do you suppose gave you your +'mission'? Was it any _person_ at all? or have you any consciousness +that any will but your own has anything to say about your life? These +prophets had found One whom it was worth while to obey, whatever came +of it, and whoever stood in the way. May it be so with you and me, my +friend! Let us try always to feel that in the commonest things we may +hear the command of God; that the trifles of each day--trifles though +they be--vibrate and sound with the reverberation of His great voice; +that in all the outward circumstances of our lives, as in all the deep +recesses of our hearts, we may trace the indications and rudiments of +His will concerning us, which He has perfectly given us in that Gospel +which is 'the law of liberty,' and in Him who is the Gospel and the +perfect Law. Then quietly, without bluster or mock-heroics, or making a +fuss about our independence, we can put all other commands and +commanders in their right place, with the old words, 'With me it is a +very small matter to be judged of you, or of man's judgment; He that +judgeth me,' and He that commandeth me, 'is the Lord,' In answer to all +the noise about us we can face round like Elijah, and say, 'As the Lord +liveth, before whom I stand.' He is my 'Imperator,' the Autocrat and +Commander of my life; and Him, and Him only, must I serve. What +calmness, what dignity that would put into our lives! The never-ceasing +boom of the great ocean, as it breaks on the beach, drowns all smaller +sounds. Those lives are noble and great in which that deep voice is +ever dominant, sounding on through all lesser voices, and day and night +filling the soul with command and awe. + +Then, still further, we may take another view of these words. They are +the utterance of a man to whom his life was not only bright with the +radiance of a divine presence, and musical with the voice of a divine +command, but was also, on his part, full of conscious obedience. No man +could say such a thing of himself who did not feel that he was +rendering a real, earnest, though imperfect obedience to God. So, +though in one view the words express a very lowly sense of absolute +submission before God, in another view they make a lofty claim for the +utterer. He professes that he stands before the Lord, girt for His +service, watching to be guided by His eye, and ready to run when He +bids. It is the same lofty sense of communion and consecration, issuing +in authority over others, which Elijah's true brother in later days, +Paul the Apostle, put forth when he made known to his companions in +shipwreck the will of 'the God, whose I am, and whom I serve.' We may +well shrink from making that claim for ourselves, when we think of the +poor, perfunctory service and partial consecration which our lives +show. But let us rejoice that even we may venture to say, 'Truly I am +Thy servant'; if only we, like the Psalmist, rest the confession on the +perfectness of what He has done for us, rather than on the imperfection +of what we have done for Him; and lay, as its foundation, 'Thou hast +loosed my bonds.' Then, though we must ever feel how poor our service, +and how unprofitable ourselves, how little we deserve the honour, and +how impossible that we should ever earn the least mite of wages; yet we +may, in all lowliness, think of ourselves as set free that we may +serve, and lift our eyes, as the eyes of a servant turn towards his +master, to 'the living Lord, before whom we stand. + +Such a life is necessarily a happy life. The one misery of man is self- +will, the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills. +To yield them up to God is rest and peace. If we 'stand before God,' +then that means that our wills are brought into harmony with His. And +that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives, and +that sweetness and joy are infused into them. For what disturbs us in +this world is not 'trouble' but our opposition to trouble. The true +source of all that frets and irritates, and wears away our lives, is +not in external things, but in the resistance of our wills to the will +of God expressed by external things. I suppose that we shall never here +bring these wills of ours into perfect correspondence with His, any +more than we shall ever, with our shaking hands and blunt pencils, draw +a perfectly straight line. But if will and heart are brought even to a +rude approach to parallelism with His, if we accept His voice when He +takes away, and obey it when He commands, we shall be quiet and +peaceful. We shall be strong and unwearied, freed from corroding cares +and exhausting rebellions, which take far more out of a man than any +work does. 'Thy word was found, and I did eat it.' When we thus take +God's command into our spirits, and feed upon it with will and +understanding, it becomes, as the Psalmist found it, the 'joy and +rejoicing of our hearts.' Elijah-like, we shall 'go in the strength of +that meat many days.' The secret of power and of calm is--yield your +will to the loving Lord, and stand ever before Him with, 'Here am I, +send me!' + +We may add one more remark to these various views of the significance +of this expression, to which the last instance of its use may help us. +Here it is: 'And Naaman said, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy +servant. But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will +receive none.' + +The thought, which made all Elisha's life bright with the light of +God's presence, which filled his ear with the unremitting voice of a +Divine Law, which swayed and bowed his will to joyful obedience, +chilled and deadened his desires for all earthly rewards. 'I am not thy +servant. I am God's servant. It is not your business to pay my wages. I +cannot dishonour my Master by taking payment from thee for doing His +work. I look for everything from Him, for nothing from thee.' + +And is there not a broad general truth involved there, namely, that +such a life as we have been describing will find its sole reward where +it finds its inspiration and its law? The Master's approval is the +servant's best wages. If we truly feel that 'the Lord _liveth_, +before whom we stand, 'we shall want nothing else for our work but His +smile, and we shall feel that the light of His face is all that we +need. That thought should deaden our love for outward things. How +little we need to care about any payment that the world can give for +anything we do! If we feel, as we ought, that we are God's servants, +that will lift us clear above the low aims and desires which meet us. +How little we shall care for money, for men's praise, for getting on in +the world! How the things that we fever our souls by pursuing, and fret +our hearts when we lose, will cease to attract! How small and vulgar +the 'prizes' of life, as people call them, will appear! 'The Lord +liveth, before whom I stand,' should be enough for us, and instead of +all these motives to action drawn from the rewards of this world, we +ought to 'labour that, whether present or absent, we may be well- +pleasing to Him.' + +Not the fading leaves of the victor's wreath, laurel though they be, +nor the corruptible things as silver and gold, whereof earth's diadems +and rewards are fashioned, but the incorruptible crown that fadeth not +away, which His hand will give, should fire our hope, and shine before +our faith. Not Naaman's gifts but God's approval is Elisha's reward. +Not the praise from lips that will perish, or the 'hollow wraith of +dying fame,' but Christ's 'Well done! good and faithful servant,' +should be a Christian's aim. + +May we, brethren, possess the 'spirit and the power of Elias';--the +spirit, in that we know ourselves to be the servants of the living God; +and then we shall have some measure of his dauntless power and heroic +unworldliness! + +Still better, may we have the Spirit of Him who was '_the_ Servant +of the Lord,' diviner in His gentle meekness than the fiery prophet in +his lonely strength! Make yours the mind that was in Christ, that you +too may say, 'Lo, I come! in the volume of the book it is written of +me, I delight to do Thy will, yea, Thy law is within my heart.' + + + + +OBADIAH + +_To the Young_ + +'... I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.--1 KINGS xviii.12. + + +This Obadiah is one of the obscurer figures in the Old Testament. We +never hear of him again, for there is no reason to accept the Jewish +tradition which alleges that he was Obadiah the prophet. And yet how +distinctly he stands out from the canvas, though he is only sketched +with a few bold outlines! He is the 'governor over Ahab's house,' a +kind of mayor of the palace, and probably the second man in the +kingdom. But though thus high in that idolatrous and self-willed court, +he has bravely kept true to the ancient faith. Neither Jezebel's +flatteries nor her frowns have moved him. But there, amid apostasy and +idolatry he stands, probably all alone in the court, a worshipper of +Jehovah. His name is his character, for it means 'servant of Jehovah.' +It was not a light thing to be a worshipper of the God of Israel in +Ahab's court. The feminine rage of the fierce Sidonian woman, whom Ahab +obeyed in most things, burned hot against the enemies of her father's +gods, and hotter, perhaps, against any one who thwarted her imperious +will. Obadiah did both, in that audacious piece of benevolence when he +sheltered the Lord's prophets--one hundred of them--and saved them from +her cruel search. The writer of the book very rightly marks this brave +antagonism to the outburst of the queen's wrath as a signal proof of a +more than ordinary devotion to the worship and fear of Jehovah. His +firmness and his religion did not prevent his retaining his place of +honour and dignity. That says something for Ahab, and more perhaps for +Obadiah. + +Most of you believe that you ought to 'fear the Lord': but you are apt +to put off, and so I wish to urge on you that you should give your +hearts to Jesus Christ at once. + +I. The blessedness of youthful religion. + +(a) It guards from many temptations, and keeps a character innocent of +much transgression. + +Think of the dangers that lie thick in the streets of every great city, +and of a lad coming up from a country home of godliness, where he was +surrounded by a mother's love and an atmosphere of purity, and launched +into some lonely lodging, or some factory or warehouse with many +tempters. Nothing will be such a help to resistance and victory as to +be able to say, 'So did not I because of the fear of the Lord.' + +(_b_) It will save from remorse. Even if a man 'sobers down' after +'sowing his wild oats,' which is a very problematical 'if,' what bitter +memories of wasted days, what polluting memories of filthy ones, will +haunt him! And if he does not sober down, what then? + +It is folly to begin life on a wrong tack, in regard to which the best +that you can say is that you do not mean to continue it. If you do not, +then the wise thing is to get at once on to the road on which you do +mean to continue, and to save the weary work of retracing steps and the +painful consciousness of having made a false start. Are you so sure +that you will wish, or that it will be possible, to face right about +and get on to a new line? Fishermen catch lobsters and the like by +means of baskets with one opening, the withes of which are so set that +the entrance is easy, but that a ring of sharp points oppose all +attempts at turning back and getting out. The world lays 'pots' of that +sort, and many a young man and woman glides smoothly in, and finds it +impossible to get out. + +(_c_) It usually leads to a deeper and more peaceful and +harmonious religion than is attained by those who have given the world +the better part of their days, and have only the last fragment of them +to give to God. Obadiah had feared God from his youth, and that had a +good deal to do with his brave stand against Jezebel. It is a grand +thing to enlist habit on the side of godliness. + +II. The foes of youthful religion. + +There are foes within .... the strong self-reliance and bounding life +proper to youth, without which at the opening of the flower, the bloom +would be poor and the fruit little, ... the power of appeals to the +unjaded and physically strong senses, ... the difficulty at such a stage +of life of looking forward and soberly regarding the end. + +There are foes without ....the crowds of tempters of both sexes, men +and women who take a devilish pleasure in polluting innocent minds, ... +the companions whose jeers are worse to face than a battery, ... the +inconsistencies of so-called Christians, the anti-Christian literature +which is peculiarly fascinating to the young, with its brave show of +breaking with mouldy tradition and enthroning reason and emancipating +from rusty fetters. + +III. The too probable alternative to youthful religion. + +It is but too likely that, if a man does not 'fear the Lord' from 'his +youth,' he will never fear Him. Thank God, there is no time nor +condition of life in which the wicked man cannot 'forsake his way,' or +'the unrighteous man his thoughts,' and 'turn to the Lord' with the +assurance that 'He will abundantly pardon.' But it is sadly too plain +to observation, and to the experience of some of us, that obstacles +grow with years, that habits and associations grip with increasing +power, that in all things our natures become less flexible, the supple +sapling becoming gnarled and tough, that a middle-aged or old man is +more inextricably 'tied and bound by the cords of his sins,' than a +young one is. + +Sin lies to us by first saying, 'It is too soon to be religious,' and +then it lies to us by saying, 'It is too late.' + +The inclination diminishes. + +The Gospel long heard and long put aside, loses power. + +Contrast the beauty of a course of life, begun on the same lines as +those on which it ends, and being like 'the shining light, that shineth +more and more unto the meridian of the day,' with one which gave the +greater part of its years to 'the world, the flesh, and the devil,' or +at least to one's godless self, and the dregs of it only to God. + + + + +THE TRIAL BY FIRE + +'And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose yon one bullock for +yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name +of your gods, but put no fire under. 26. And they took the bullock +which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of +Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there +was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar +which was made. 27. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked +them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he Is talking, or he +is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and +must be awaked. 28. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after +their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon +them. 29. And it came to pass, when midday was passed, and they +prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, +that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. +30. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the +people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that +was broken down. 31. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the +number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the +Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32. And with the stones he +built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the +altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33. And he put +the wood in order, and cut the bullock in nieces, and laid him on the +wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt +sacrifice, and on the wood. 34. And he said, Do it the second time. And +they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And +they did it the third time. 35. And the water ran round about the +altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36. And it came to +pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah +the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of +Israel, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that +I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. +37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may know that Thou art +the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. 38. +Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and +the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that +was in the trench. 39. And when all the people saw it, they fell on +their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is +the God.--1 KINGS xviii. 25-39. + +The place, the purpose, and the actors in this scene, make it among the +grandest in history. A nation, with its king, has come together, at the +bidding of one man, to settle no less a question than whom they shall +worship. There, on the slope of Carmel, with the brassy heaven gleaming +hard and dry above them, and the yellow, burnt-up plain of Jezreel at +their feet, the expectant people stand. The assembly was a singular +proof of Elijah's ascendency; for Ahab's bluster had sunk, cowed in his +presence, and he had meekly done the prophet's bidding in summoning +'all Israel' and the eight hundred and fifty Baal and Asherah prophets, +for an unexplained purpose. The false priests would come unwillingly; +but they came. + +Then Elijah takes the command, and, though utterly alone, towers above +the crowd in the courage of his undaunted confidence in his message. +His words have the ring of authority as he rebukes indecision, and +calls for a clear adhesion to Baal or Jehovah. If the people had +answered, the trial by fire would have been needless. But their silence +shows that they waver, and therefore he makes his proposal to them. + +Note that the priests are not consulted, nor is Ahab. The former would +have had some excuse for shirking the sharp issue; but the people's +assent forced them to accept the ordeal,--reluctantly enough, no doubt. + +I. The vain cries to a deaf God. It is strange that one of the parties +to the test has power to determine its conditions, especially as +Elijah's prophetic authority was one of the things in dispute; but it +is a sign of the magnetic power which one bold man with absolute +confidence in his own convictions exercises over men. The Baal prophets +are given every advantage in priority of action. Error is best unmasked +by being allowed free opportunity to do its best; for the more +favourable the circumstances of trial, the more signal the defeat. +God's servants must never be suspected of unfair tricks in their +controversy with error. They can afford to let it try first. Notice the +substitution of 'your god,' in the Revised Version, for 'your gods' in +the Authorised Version. That is obviously right; for the only question +was about one god,--namely, Baal. + +So, in the early morning, with all the people gazing at them, the Baal +priests or prophets begin their attempt. It was easy to prepare the +sacrifice, and lay it on the altar,--though, no doubt, it was done +sullenly, with foreboding of the coming exposure. The whole account of +the wild invocations of the priests may suggest some of the +characteristics of idolatry, and touch our hearts with pity, as well as +with the sense of its absurdity, which animated Elijah's mockery. + +Note, then, the vivid picture, in verse 27, of the long hours of vain +crying. On the one hand, we hear the wild chorus echoing among the +rocks; on the other, we feel the dead silence in the heavens. + +The monotonous and almost mechanical repetition of the invocation, +prolonged till the syllables have no meaning to the yelling crowd, is +characteristic of the frenzied excitement so common in idolatry. To +call such howlings prayer, degrades the name. They are the very +opposite of that sacred communion of a believing soul with the God whom +it knows, trusts, and beseeches with submission. Neither knowledge nor +trust is in these shrieks, which seek to propitiate the stern god by +repeating his name as a kind of charm. Heathenism has no true prayer. +Wild cries and passionate desires, flung upwards to an unloved god, are +not prayer; and that solace and anchor of the troubled soul is wanting +in all the dreary lands given up to idolatry. + +The melancholy persistence of the unanswered cries may stand as a +symbol of the tragic obstinacy with which their devotees cling to their +vain gods,--a rebuke to us with a more enlightened faith. The silence, +which was the only answer, is put in strong contrast with the +continuous roar of the four hundred and fifty,--so long and loud the +hoarse cries here, so unmoved the stillness in the careless heaven. +That, too, is typical of heathenism, which is sad with unavailing cries +and ignorant of answers to any. As the day wore on, and the voices grew +hoarse, and hope declined, more violent bodily exercise was resorted +to, and the shouting crowd danced (or, perhaps, as the margin says, +'limped,'--a picturesque and contemptuous word for the grotesque +contortions around the altar), as if that might bring the answer. That +again is a feature common to all heathenism. No wonder that Elijah's +scorn broke forth vehemently at such a sight. Noon was the hour of the +sun's greatest power, and, since Baal was probably a solar deity, it +was the hour when, if ever, he would spare one of his abundant fiery +beams to light the pyre. So Elijah's taunts came just when they were +most biting, and none can say that they were undeserved. His fiery zeal +and his naturally stern character broke out in the bitter irony with +which he imagines a variety of undignified positions for Baal. + +Sarcasm is not the highest weapon, and the 'spirit of Elijah' is not +the spirit of Jesus; but the exposure of the absurdity of idolatry is +legitimate, and even ridicule may have its place in pricking wind- +distended bladders. A man throttling a serpent may be excused using +anything that comes handy for the purpose. But, at the same time, the +right attitude for us as Christians in the presence of that awful fact +of idolatry, is neither contempt nor scientific curiosity, but pity +deep as Christ's, and earnest resolve to help our darkened brethren. +The taunts stirred to fiercer excitement and more extravagant acts, as +ridicule is wont to do, and therein proves itself an unreliable +instrument of controversy. Laughing at a man generally makes him more +obstinate. The priests answered Elijah by savagely gashing their half- +naked bodies with knives and lances,--a ready way to make blood come, +but not to bring fire. The frenzy became wilder as the day declined, +and at last, covered with blood, hoarse with shouting, panting with +their gymnastics, they 'prophesied,' having wrought themselves into +that state of excitement in which incoherent rhapsodies burst from +their lips. What a scene to call worship! That is what millions of men +are ready to practise to-day. And all the while there is no voice, no +answer, no care for them, in the pitiless sky. The very genius of +idolatry is set before us in that tumultuous crowd on Carmel. + +II. The sacrifice of faith and the answer by fire. We pass from a scene +of wild commotion into an atmosphere of sacred calm in verse 30. The +contrast is striking. The fiery fervours of the day are past, and the +sun is sinking behind the top of Carmel, and there is much to do before +it sets. Elijah with his own hands, as would appear, repairs a ruined +altar among the woods. Probably it had been erected for secret worship +of Jehovah by some faithful amid the national apostasy, when access to +Jerusalem was forbidden them, and had been destroyed by Ahab in his +crusade against Jehovah worshippers. The selection of the twelve stones +was symbolical of the unbroken unity of the nation, and was Elijah's +protest against the very existence of the Northern kingdom, and its +assumption of the name of 'Israel' The writer explains what was meant, +when he reminds us that Israel was the name given to Jacob, and +therefore, as he would have us infer, was the common property of all +his descendants. Judah was a part of Israel, and Israel should be an +undivided whole, uniting in all its tribes in bringing offerings to +Jehovah. + +It was a daring thing to do before Ahab's face; but the weak king was, +for the time, subjugated by the imperious will and courage of Elijah. +The building of the altar, with its mute witness to God's purpose, +would touch some hearts in the gazing, silent crowd. The next step was, +of course, meant to make the miracle more conspicuous by drenching +everything with water, probably brought, even in that drought, from the +perennial fountain near at hand. Perhaps, too, the number of barrels +was intended, again, as symbolical of the twelve tribes. + +One can fancy the wonder and eagerness of the people, and the dark +frowns of the baffled and exhausted Baal priests, as they gradually +came out of their frenzy, and knew that they had lost their +opportunity. The tranquil though earnest prayer of the prophet is in +sharpest contrast with the meaningless bellowings to Baal. Note in it +the solemn invocation. The great Name, which all listening to him had +deposed from rule over them, is set in the front; and the ancestral +worship, as well as the divine gifts and dealings with the patriarchs, +is pleaded with God as the reason for His answer now. The name of +'Israel' instead of the more common 'Jacob,' has the same force as in +verse 31. + +Note the substance of the petitions. The deepest desire of a truly +devout soul is that God would make His name known. Zeal for God's +honour and love for men who have gone astray from Him, conspire to make +that the head and front of His true servant's prayers. It is God, not +his own credit, about which Elijah thinks first. For himself, all that +he desires is to be known as an obedient servant, and as not having +done anything at the bidding of his own will or judgment, but in +accordance with the all-commanding Voice. + +Clearly we must suppose that in all the ordering of this sublime trial +by fire, Elijah had been acting 'at Thy word,' even though we have no +other record of the fact. He had no right to expect an answer unless he +had been bidden to propose the test. God will honour the drafts which +He bids us draw on Him; but to suspend our own or other people's faith +in Him, on the issue of some experiment whether He will answer prayers, +is not faith, but rash presumption, unless it is in obedience to a +distinct command. Elijah had such a command, and therefore he could ask +God to vindicate his action, and to prove that he was God's servant. +His last petition is beautiful, both in its consciousness of power with +God and recognition of his place as a prophet, and in its lowly +subordination of all personal aims to the restoration of Israel to the +true worship. He asks, with reiteration which is earnestness and faith, +and therefore the sharpest contrast to the mechanical repetition by +Baal's priests, that God would hear him; but his sole object in that +prayer is, not that his name may be exalted as a prophet, or that any +good may come to him, but that the blinded eyes may be opened, and the +hearts, that have been so sadly led astray, be brought back to the +worship of their fathers' God. + +The whole brief prayer, in its calm confidence; its adoring recognition +of the name and past dealings of Jehovah as the ground of trust; its +throbbing of earnest desire for the manifestation of His character +before men; its consciousness of personal relation to God, which +humbles rather than puffs up; its beseeching for an answer, and its +closing petition, which comes round again to its first, that men may +know God, and fasten their hearts on Him,--may well stand as a pattern +of prayer for us. + +The short prayer of faith does in a moment what all the long day of +crying could not do. The language in which the answer is described +emulates the rapidity of the swift tongues of fire which licked up +sacrifice, altar, and water. They were the tokens of acceptance, +reminding of the consuming of the first sacrifices in the Tabernacle, +and, like them, inaugurating a new beginning of the worship of God. The +burning of the altar, as well as of the sacrifice, expressed the +acceptance of the people whom it, by its twelve stones, symbolised. And +the people, on their part, were--for the time, at all events--swept +away by the miracle, and by the force of the prophet's example and +authority. Short-lived their faith may have been, as certainly it was +superficial; but the fire had for the time melted their hearts, and set +them flowing in the ancient channels of devotion. The faith that is +founded on miracle may be deepened into something better; but unless it +is, it speedily dies away. The faith that is due to the influence of +some strong personality may lead on to an independent faith, based on +personal experience; but, unless it does, it too will perish. + +We may find a modern reproduction of the test of Carmel in the +impotence of all other schemes and methods of social and spiritual +reformation and the power of the Gospel. In it and its effects God +answers by fire. Let the opposers, who are so glib in demonstrating the +failure of Christianity, do the same with their enchantments, if they +can. + + + + +ELIJAH'S WEAKNESS, AND ITS CUBE + +'And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had +slain all the prophets with the sword. 2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger +unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make +not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time. +3. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to +Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4. But +he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat +down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might +die; and said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am +not better than my fathers. 5. And as he lay and slept under a juniper +tree, behold, then, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and +eat. 6. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the +coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and +laid him down again. 7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second +time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is +too great for thee. 8. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in +the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the +mount of God. 9. And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there, +and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said unto him, +What doest thou here, Elijah? 10. And he said, I have been very jealous +for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy +covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the +sword; and I, even I only, am left: and they seek my life, to take it +away. 11. And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the +Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent +the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the +Lord was not In the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the +Lord was not in the earthquake: 12. And after the earthquake a fire, +but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small +voice. 13. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his +face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the +cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him and said, What doest +then here, Elijah! 14. And he said, I have been very jealous for the +Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy +covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the +sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it +away. 15. And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the +wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king +over Syria: 16. And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king +over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou +anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17. And it shall come to pass, that +him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that +escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18. Yet I have left +me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto +Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.'--1 KINGS xix. 1-18. + + +The miracle on Carmel cowed, if it did not convince, Ahab, so that he +did not oppose the slaughter of the Baal prophets; but Jezebel was made +of sterner stuff, and her passionate idolatry was proof against even a +sign from heaven. Obstinacy in error is often a rebuke to tremulous +faith in God. She fiercely puts her back to the wall, and defies Elijah +and his God. Her threat to the prophet has a certain audacity of +frankness almost approaching generosity. She will give her victim fair +play. This woman is 'magnificent in sin.' The Septuagint prefixes to +her oath, 'As surely as thou art Elijah and I Jezebel,' which adds +force to it. It also reads, by a very slight change in the Hebrew, in +verse 3, 'he was afraid,' for 'he saw,'--which is possibly right, as +giving his motive for escape more distinctly. + +I. We may note, first, the prophet's flight (verses 3-8). Beersheba, on +the southern border of the kingdom of Judah, was eloquent of memories +of the patriarchs, but though it was nearly a hundred miles from +Jezreel, Jezebel's arm was long enough to reach the fugitive there, and +therefore he plunged deeper into the dreary southern desert. He left +behind him his servant, his 'young man,' as the original has it, whom +Rabbinical tradition identified with the miraculously resuscitated son +of the widow of Zarephath, and supposed to become afterwards the +prophet Jonah. Thus alone but for the company of his own gloomy +thoughts, and wearied with toilsome travel in the sun-smitten waste, he +took shelter under the shadow of a solitary shrub (the Hebrew +emphatically calls it '_one_ juniper,' or rather 'broom-plant'), +and there the waves of depression went over him. + +His complaint is not to be wondered at, though it was wrong. The very +overstrain of the scene on Carmel brought reaction. The height of the +crest of one wave measures the depth of the trough of the next, and no +mortal spirit can keep itself at the sublime elevation reached by +Elijah when alone he fronted and converted a nation. The supposed +necessity for flight, coming so immediately after apparent victory, +showed him how hollow the change in the people was. What had become of +all the fervency of their shout, 'The Lord, He is the God!' if they +could leave Jezebel the power to carry out her threat? Solitude and the +awful desert increased his gloom. The strong man had become weak, and +it was ebb-tide with him. His prayer was petulant, impatient, +presumptuous. What right had he to settle what was 'enough'? If he +really wished to die, he could have found death at Jezreel, and had no +need to travel a hundred miles to seek a grave. He was weary of his +work, and profoundly disappointed by what he hastily concluded was its +failure, and in a fit of faithless despondency he forgot reverence, +submission, and obedience. + +If Elijah can become weak, and his courage die out, and his zeal become +torpid apathy and cowardly wish to shuffle off responsibility and shirk +work, who shall stand? The lessons of self-distrust, of the nearness to +one another of the most opposite emotions in our weak natures, of the +depth of gloom into which the boldest and brightest servant of God may +fall as soon as he loses hold of God's hand, never had a more striking +instance to point them than that mighty prophet, sitting huddled +together in utter despondency below the solitary retem bush, praying +his foolish prayer for death. + +The meal to which an angel twice waked him was God's answer to his +prayer, telling him both that his life was still needful and that God +cared for him. Perhaps one of Elijah's reasons for taking to the desert +was the thought that he might starve there, and so find death. At all +events, God for the third time miraculously provides his food. The +ravens, the widow of Zarephath, an angel, were his caterers; and, +instead of taking away his life, God Himself sends the bread and water +to preserve it. The revelation of a watchful, tender Providence often +rebukes gloomy unbelief and shames us back to faith. We are not told +whether the journey to Horeb was commanded, or, like the flight from +Jezreel, was Elijah's own doing; but, in any case, he must have +wandered in the desert, to have taken forty days to reach it. + +II. The second stage is the vision at Horeb (verses 9-14). The history +of Israel has never touched Horeb since Moses left it, and it is not +without significance that we are once more on that sacred ground. The +parallel between Moses and Elijah is very real. These two names stand +out above all others in the history of the theocracy, the one as its +founder, the other as its restorer; both distinguished by special +revelations, both endowed with exceptional force of character and power +of the Spirit; the one the lawgiver, the other the head of the +prophetic order; both having something peculiar in their departure, and +both standing together, in witness of their supremacy in the past, and +of their inferiority in the future, by Jesus on the Mount of +Transfiguration. The associations of the place are marked by the use of +the definite article, which is missed in the Authorised Version,--'the +cave,' that same cleft in the rock where Moses had stood. Note, too, +that the word rendered 'lodged' is literally 'passed the night,' and +that therefore we may suppose that the vision came to Elijah in the +darkness. + +That question, 'What doest thou here?' can scarcely be freed from a +tone of rebuke; but, like Christ's to the travellers to Emmaus, and +many another interrogation from God, it is also put in order to allow +of the loaded heart's relieving itself by pouring out all its griefs. +God's questions are the assurance of His listening ear and sympathising +heart. This one is like a little key which opens a great sluice. Out +gushes a full stream. His forty days' solitude have done little for +him. A true answer would have been, 'I was afraid of Jezebel.' He takes +credit for zeal, and seems to insinuate that he had been more zealous +for God than God had been for Himself. He forgets the national +acknowledgment of Jehovah at Carmel, and the hundred prophets protected +by good Obadiah. Despondency has the knack of picking its facts. It is +colour-blind, and can only see dark tints. He accuses his countrymen, +as if he would stir up God to take vengeance. + +How different this weak and sinful wail over his solitude from the +heroic mention of it on Carmel, when it only nerved his courage I +(verse 22). The divine manifestation which followed is evidently meant +to recall that granted to Moses on the same spot. 'The Lord passed by' +is all but verbally quoted from Exodus xxxiv. 6, and the truth that had +been proclaimed in words to Moses was enforced by symbol to Elijah. If +the vision was in the night, as verse 9 suggests, it becomes still more +impressive. The fierce wind that roared among the savage peaks, the +shock that made the mountains reel, and the flashing flames that +lighted up the wild landscape, were all phenomena of one kind, and at +once expressed God's lordship over all destructive agencies of nature, +and symbolised the more vehement and disturbing forms of energy, used +by Him for the furtherance of His purposes in the field of history or +of revelation. Elijah's ministry was of such a sort, and he had now to +learn the limitations of his work, and the superiority of another type, +represented by the 'sound of gentle stillness.' + +It is the same lesson which Moses learned there, when he heard that the +Lord is 'a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and +plenteous in mercy and truth.' It was exemplified in the gentle Elisha, +the successor of Elijah. It reached far beyond the time then present, +and was indeed a Messianic prophecy, declaring the inmost character of +Him in whom 'the Lord is,' in an altogether special sense. Elijah as a +prophet brought no new knowledge, and uttered no far-reaching +predictions; but he received one of the deepest and clearest prophecies +of the gentleness of God's highest Messenger, and on Horeb saw afar off +what he saw fulfilled on the Mountain of Transfiguration. Nor is his +vision exhausted by its Messianic reference. It contains an eternal +truth for all God's servants. Storm, earthquake, and fire may be God's +precursors, and needed sometimes to prepare His way; but gentleness is +'the habitation of His throne,' and they serve Him best, and are +nearest Him whom they serve, who are meek in heart and gentle among +enemies, 'as a nurse cherisheth her children.' Love is the victor, and +the sharpest weapons of the Christian are love and lowliness. + +The lesson was not at first grasped by Elijah, as his repetition of his +complaint, word for word, with almost dogged obstinacy, shows. The best +of us are slow to learn God's lessons, and a habit of faithless gloom +is not soon overcome. It is much easier to get down into the pit than +to struggle out of it. + +III. The commission for further service, which closes the scene, is a +further rebuke to the prophet. He is bidden to retrace his way and to +take refuge in the desert lying to the south and east of Damascus, +where he would be safe from Jezebel, and still not far from the scene +of his activity. The instructions given to anoint a king of Syria and +one of Israel were not fulfilled by Elijah, but by his successor; and +we have to suppose that further commands were given to him on that +subject. The third injunction, to anoint his successor, was obeyed at +once on his journey, though Ahelmeholah, on Gilboa, was dangerously +near Jezreel. The designation of these future instruments of God's +purpose was at once a sign to Elijah that his own task was drawing to a +close (having reached its climax on Carmel), and that God had great +designs beyond him and his service. The true conception of our work is +that we sire only links in a chain, and that we can be done without. +'God removes the workers and carries on the work.' To anoint our +successor is often a bitter pill; but self-importance needs to be taken +down, and it is blessed to lose ourselves in gazing into the future of +God's work, when we are gone from the field. + +Further, the commissions met Elijah's despondency in another way; for +they assured him of the divine judgments on the house of Ahab, and of +the use of the Syrian king as a rod to chastise Israel. He had thought +God too slow in avenging His dishonoured name, and had been taught the +might of gentleness; but now he also learns the certainty of +punishment, while the enigmatical promise that Elisha should 'slay' +those who escaped the swords of Hazael and Jehu dimly points to the +merciful energy of that prophet's word, his only sword, which shall +slay but to revive, and wound to heal. 'I have hewed them by the ... +words of my mouth.' + +Finally, the revelation of the seven thousand--a round number, which +expresses the sacredness as well as the numerousness of the elect, +hidden ones--rebukes the hasty assumption of his being left alone, +'faithful among the faithless.' God has more servants than we know of. +Let us beware of feeding either our self-righteousness or our +narrowness or our faint-heartedness with the fancy that we have a +monopoly of faithfulness, or are left alone to witness for God. + + + + +PUTTING ON THE ARMOUR + +And the king of Israel answered and said. Tell him. Let not him that +girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.'--1 +KINGS xx. 11. + + +_For the Young_. + + +Ahab, King of Israel, was but a poor creature, and, like most weak +characters, he turned out a wicked one, because he found that there +were more temptations to do wrong than inducements to do right. Like +other weak people, too, he was torn asunder by the influence of +stronger wills. On the one side he had a termagant of a wife, stirring +him up to idolatry and all evil, and on the other side Elijah +thundering and lightning at him; so the poor man was often reduced to +perplexity. Once in his lifetime he did behave like a king, with some +flash of dignity. My text comes from that incident. His next neighbour, +and, consequently, his continual enemy, was the king of Damascus. He +had made a raid across the border and was dictating terms so severe as +to invite even Ahab to courageous opposition. His back was at the wall, +and he mustered up courage to say 'No!' That provoked a bit of +blustering bravado from the enemy, who sent back a message, 'The gods +do also unto me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice +for handfuls for all the people that follow me.' And then Ahab replied +in the words of our text. They have a dash of contempt and sarcasm, all +the more galling because of their unanswerable common-sense. 'The time +to crow and clap your wings is _after_ you have fought. Samaria is +not a heap of dust just yet. Threatened men live long.' The battle +began, and the bully was beaten; and for once Ahab tasted the sweets of +success. + +Now, I have nothing more to do with Ahab and the immediate application +of his message, but I wish to apply it to my young friends, whom I have +taken it upon me to ask now to listen to two or three homely words to +them in this sermon. + +You are beginning the fight; some of us old people are getting very +near the end of it. And I would fain, if I could, see successors coming +to take the places which we shall soon have to vacate. So my message to +you, dear friends, young men and young women, is this, 'Let not him +that putteth on the harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.' + +I. Now, look for a moment at the general view of life that is implied +in this saying thus understood. + +There is nothing that the bulk of people are more unwilling to do than +steadily to think about what life as a whole, and in its deepest +aspects, is. And that disinclination is strong, as I suppose, in the +average young man or young woman. That comes, plainly enough, from the +very blessings of your stage of life. Unworn health, a blessed +inexperience of failures and limitations, the sense of undeveloped +power within you, the natural buoyancy of early days, all tend to make +you rather live by impulse than by reflection. And I should be the last +man in the world to try to damp the noble, buoyant, beautiful +enthusiasms with which Nature has provided that we should all begin our +course. The world will do that soon enough; and there is no sadder +sight than that of a bitter old man, who has outlived, and smiles +sardonically at, his youthful dreams. But I do wish to press upon you +all this question, Have you ever tried to think to yourself, 'Now what, +after all, is this life that is budding within me and dawning before +me--what is it, in its deepest reality, and what am I to do with it?' + +There are some of us to whom, so far as we have thought at all, life +presents itself mainly as a shop, a place where we are to 'buy and +sell, and get gain,' and use our evenings, after the day's work is +over, for such recreation as suits us. And there are young men among my +hearers who, with the flush of their physical manhood upon them, and +perhaps away from the restraints of home, and living in gloomy town +lodgings, with no one to look after them, are beginning to think that +life after all is a kind of pigs' trough, with plenty of foul wash in +it for whoso chooses to suck it up--a garden of not altogether pure +delights, a place where a man may gratify the 'lusts of the flesh.' + +But, dear brethren, whilst there are many other noble metaphors under +which we can set forth the essential character of this mysterious, +tremendous life of ours, I do not know that there is one that ought to +appeal more to the slumbering heroism which lies in every human soul, +and to the enthusiasms which, unless you in your youth cherish, you +will in your manhood be beggared indeed, than that which this picture +of my text suggests. After all, life is meant to be one long conflict. +We are like the fellahin that one sometimes sees in Eastern lands, who +cannot go out to plough in their fields, or reap their harvests, +without a gun slung on their backs; for the condition under which we +work in this world is that everything worth doing has to be done at the +cost of opposition and antagonism, and that no noble service or +building is possible without brave, continuous conflict. Even upon the +lower levels of life that is so. No man learns a science or a trade +without having to fight for it. But high above these lower levels, +there is the one on which we all are called to walk, the high level of +duty, and no man does what his conscience tells him, or refrains from +that which his conscience sternly forbids, without having to fight for +it. We are in the lists and compelled to draw the sword. And if we do +not realise this, that all nobility all greatness, all wisdom, all +success, even of the lowest and most vulpine kind, are won by conflict, +we shall never do anything in the world worth doing. You are a soldier, +whether you will or no, and life is a fight, whether you recognise the +fact or not. + +So, standing at the beginning, do not fancy that there is opening +before you a scene of enjoyment, or that you are stepping into a world +in which you can take your ease, and come out successfully at the other +end. It is not so; and you will find that out before long. Better that +you should settle it in your minds at first. When you were born you +were enrolled on the roll-call of the regiment; and now you have to do +a man's part in the battle. + +II. Note the boastful temper which is sure to be beaten. + +No doubt there is something inspiring in the spectacle of the young +warrior standing there, chafing at the lists, eagerly pulling on his +gauntlets, fitting on his helmet, and longing to be in the thick of the +fight. No doubt, as I have already said, there is something in your +early days which makes such buoyant hopes and anticipations of success +natural, and which gives you, as a great gift, that expectation of +victory. I do not wish to shatter any of your enthusiasms or ideals, +but I do wish to suggest a consideration or two that may calm and sober +them. + +So I ask, have you ever estimated, are you now estimating rightly, what +it is that you have to fight for? To make yourselves pure, wise, +strong, self-governing, Christlike men, such as God would have you to +be. That is not a small thing for a man to set himself to do. You may +go into the struggle for lower purposes, for bread and cheese, or +wealth or fame, or love, or the like, with a comparatively light heart; +but if there once has dawned upon a young soul the whole majestic sweep +of possibilities in its opening life, then the battle assumes an aspect +of solemnity and greatness that silences all boasting. Have you +considered what it is that you have to fight for? + +Have you considered the forces that are arrayed against you? 'What act +is all its thought had been?' Hand and brain are never paired. There is +always a gap between the conception and its realisation. The painter +stands before his canvas, and, while others may see beauty in it, he +only sees what a small fragment of the radiant vision that floated +before his eye his hand has been able to preserve. The author looks on +his book and thinks what a poor, wretched transcript of the thoughts +that inspired his pen it is. There is ever this same disproportion +between the conception and accomplishment. Therefore, all we old people +feel, more or less, that our lives have been failures. We set out as +you do, thinking that we were going to build a tower whose top should +reach to heaven, and we are contented if, at the last, we have +scrambled together some little wooden shanty in which we can live. We +thought as you do; you will come to think as we do. So you had better +begin now, and not go into the fight boasting, or you will come out of +it conscious of being beaten. + +Have you realised how different it is to dream things and to do them? +In our dreams we are, as it were, working _in vacuo_. When we come +to acts, the atmosphere offers resistance. It is easy to imagine +ourselves victorious in circumstances where things are all going +rightly and are bending according to our own desires, but when we come +to the grim world, where there are things that resist and people are +not plastic, it is a very different matter. You do not yet understand, +as you will some day, the fatal limitations of power that hem us all +round and the obstinate way that circumstances have of not falling in +with our wishes. And you have not yet learned how completely and +constantly failure accompanies success, like its shadow. The old +Egyptians had no need to put a skeleton at their tables, nor the Romans +to set a mocker behind the hero as he rode in triumph up to the +Capitol. The world provides the skeleton at the banquet, and +circumstances supply the mocker to add a dash of failure to all our +triumphs. + +Have you ever realised how certainly, into the brightest and most +buoyant and successful lives, there will come crushing sorrows, blows +as from an unseen hand in the dark, that fell a man? O friend! when one +thinks of the miseries and the misfortunes, the sorrows and the losses, +the broken and bleeding hearts that began life buoyant, elastic, +hopeful, perhaps boasting, like you, there ought to be a sobering tint +cast over our brightest visions. + +I suppose that our colleges are full of students who are going, to far +outstrip their professors, that every life-school has a dozen lads who +have just begun to handle brush and easel, and are going to put +Raffaelle in the shade. I suppose that every lawyer's office has a +budding Lord Chancellor or two in it. And I suppose that that sharp +criticism of us fumblers in the field, and half-expressed thought, 'How +much better I could do it!' belong to youth by virtue of its youth. It +is a crude form of undeveloped power, but it wants a great deal of +sobering down, and I am trying now to let out a little of the blood, +and to bring you to a clear conception of the very limited success +which is likely to attend you. All we old people, whose deficiencies +and limitations you see so clearly, had the same dreams, impossible as +it may appear to you, fifty years ago. We were going to be the men, and +wisdom was going to die with us, and you see what we have made of it. +You will not do much better. + +Have you ever taken stock honestly of your own resources? 'What king, +going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and +counteth the cost, whether with his ten thousand he can meet him that +cometh against him with twenty thousand?' Boast if you like, but +calculate first, and boast after that, if you can. + +Your worst enemy is yourself. When you are counting your resources and +saying, 'I have this, that, and the other thing,' do not forget to say, +'I have a part of me, that takes all the rest of me all its time to +keep it down and prevent it from becoming master.' You have traitors in +the fortress who are in communication with the enemy outside, and may +go over to him openly in the very crisis of the fight. You have to take +that fact into account, and it ought to suppress boasting whilst you +are putting on the harness. + +You are not old enough to remember, as some of us do, the delirious +enthusiasm with which, in the last Franco-German war, the Emperor and +the troops left Paris, and how, as the train steamed out of the +station, shouts were raised, 'A. Berlin!' Ay! and they never got +farther than Sedan, and there an Emperor and an army were captured. Go +into the fight bragging, and you will come out of it beaten. + +III. Note the confidence which is not boasting. + +I can fancy some of you saying, 'These gloomy views of yours will lead +to nothing but absolute despair. You have been telling us that success +is impossible; that we are bound to fight, and are sure to be beaten. +What are we to do? Throw up the sponge, and say, "Very well! then I may +as well have my fling, and give up all attempts to be any better than +my passions and my senses would lead me to be."' And if there is +nothing more to be said about the fight than has been already said, +that _is_ the conclusion. 'Let us eat and drink,' not only 'for +to-morrow we die,' but 'for to-day we are sure to be beaten.' But I +have only been speaking about this self-distrust as preliminary to what +is the main thing that I desire to urge upon you now, and it is this: +You do not need to be beaten. There is no room for boasting, but there +is room for absolute confidence. You, young men and women, standing at +the entrance of the amphitheatre where the gladiators fight, may dash +into the arena with the most perfect confidence that you will come out +with your shield preserved and your sword unbroken. + +There is one way of doing it. 'Be of good cheer! I have overcome the +world.' That was not the boast of a man putting on the harness, but the +calm utterance of the conquering Christ when He was putting it off. He +has conquered that you may conquer. Remember how the Apostle, who has +preserved for us that note of triumph at the end of Christ's life, has, +like some musician with a favourite phrase, modulated and varied it in +his letter written long after, when he says, 'This is the victory that +overcometh the world, even our faith.' My dear young friends, distrust +yourselves utterly, and trust Jesus Christ absolutely, and give +yourselves to Him, to be His servants and soldiers till your lives' +end. Then you will not be beaten, for it is written of those who move +in the light, wearing the victor's palm: 'These are they who overcame +by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of His testimony.' That blood +secures our victory in a threefold fashion. By that great death of +Jesus Christ all our past sins may be forgiven, and they no longer have +power to tyrannise over us. In His sacrifice for us there are motives +given to us for noble, grateful, Godlike living, stronger than all the +temptations that can arise from our own hearts, or from the evils +around us. And if we put our humble trust in Him, then that faith opens +the door for the entrance into our hearts, in simple reality, of a +share in His conquering life which will make us victorious over the +world, the flesh, and the devil. + +'This is the victory that overcometh the world,' and the youngest, +feeblest Christian who lays his or her hand in Christ's strong hand, +may look out upon all the embattled antagonisms that front them, and +say, 'He will cover my head in the day of battle, and teach my hands to +war and my fingers to fight.' + +Dear young friends, people sometimes preach to you that you should be +Christians, because life is uncertain and death is drawing near, and +after death the judgment. I preach that too; but the gospel that I seek +to press upon you now is not merely a thing to die by, but it is +_the_ thing to live by; and it is the only power by which we shall +be sure of overcoming the armies of the aliens. This confidence in +Christ will take away from you no shred of your natural, youthful, +buoyant elasticity, but it will save you from much transgression and +from bitter regrets. + +One last word. There is possible a triumph which is not boasting, for +him who puts _off_ the harness. The war-worn soldier has little +heart for boasting, but he may be able to say, 'I have not been +beaten.' The best of us, when we come to the end, will have to +recognise in retrospect failures, deficiencies, palterings with evil, +yieldings to temptation, sins of many sorts, that will put all boasting +out of our thoughts. But, whilst that is so, there is sometimes granted +to the man, who has been faithful in his adherence to Jesus Christ, a +gleam of sunshine at eventime, which foretells Heaven's welcome and +'Well done!', before it is uttered. He was no self-righteous braggart, +but a very rigid judge of himself, who, close by the headsman's block +that ended his life, said: 'I have fought a good fight; I have finished +my course; I have kept the faith.' 'Put on the whole armour of God,' +and when the time comes to put it off, you will have a peaceful +assurance as far removed from despair as it is from boasting. Distrust +yourselves; do not underestimate your enemies; understand that life is +warfare; trust utterly to Jesus Christ, and He will see to it that you +are not conquered, will give you the calm confidence of which we have +been speaking here, and a share hereafter in the throne which He +promises to him that overcometh. If you will trust yourselves to Him, +and take service in His army, you cannot be too certain of victory. If +you fling yourself into the battle in your own strength, with however +high a hope, and fight without the Captain for your ally, you cannot +escape defeat. + + + + +ROYAL MURDERERS + + + +'And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had +a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of +Samaria. 2. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, +that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my +house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it +seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3. And +Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the +inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 4. And Ahab came into his house +heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite +had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the +inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and +turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 5. But Jezebel his wife +came to him, and said unto him. Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou +eatest no bread? 6. And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth +the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money: or +else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and +he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. 7. And Jezebel his wife +said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and +eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard +of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and +sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to +the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9. And she +wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high +among the people: 10. And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to +bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the +king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11. And +the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the +inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it +was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12. They +proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13. And +there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the +men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the +presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. +Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with +stones, that he died. 14. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is +stoned, and is dead. 15. And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that +Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take +possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused +to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 16. And it +came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up +to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession +of it.'-1 KINGS xxi. 1-16. + + +There are three types of character in this story, all bad, but in +different ways. Ahab is wicked and weak; Jezebel, wicked and strong; +the elders of Jezreel, wicked and subservient. Amongst them they commit +a great crime, which was the last drop in the full cup of the king's +sins, and brought down God's judgment on him and his house. + +I. We have to look at the weakly wicked Ahab. His wish for Naboth's +vineyard was a mere selfish whim. He was willing to give more for it +than it was worth. It suited his convenience for a kitchen-garden. In +the true spirit of an Eastern despot, he expected everything to yield +to his caprice, and did not think that a subject had any rights. What +business has a poor man with sentiment? Naboth is to go, and a handful +of silver will set all right. Samuel's warning of what a king would be +and do was fulfilled. This highhanded interference with private rights +was what Israel's revolt had led to. The sturdy Naboth was influenced +not only by love for the bit of land which his fathers had cultivated +for more years than Ahab had reigned days, but by obedience to the law +of God; and he was not afraid to show himself a Jehovah worshipper, by +his solemn appeal to 'the Lord,' as well as by the fact of his refusal. +The brusque, flat refusal shows that some independence was left in the +nation. + +The weak rage and childish sulking of Ahab are very characteristic of a +feeble and selfish nature, accustomed to be humoured and not thwarted. +These fits of temper seem to have been common with him; for he was in +one at the end of the preceding chapter, as he is now. The 'bed' on +which he flung himself is probably the couch for reclining on at table, +and, if so, the picture of his passion is still more vivid. Instead of +partaking of the meal, he turns his face to the wall, and refuses food. +'No meat will down with him for want of a salad, because wanting +Naboth's vineyard for a garden of herbs.' As he lies there, like a +spoiled child, all because he could not get his own way, he may serve +for an example of the misery of unbridled selfishness and unregulated +desires. An acre or two of land was a small matter to get into such a +state about, and there are few things that are worth a wise or a strong +man's being so troubled. Hezekiah might 'turn his face to the wall' in +the extremity of sickness and earnestness of prayer; but Ahab in doing +it is only a poor, feeble creature who has weakly set his heart on what +is not his, and weakly whimpers because he cannot have it. + +To be thus at the mercy of our own ravenous desires, and so utterly +miserable when they are thwarted, is unworthy of manhood, and is sure +to bring many a bitter moment; for there are more disappointments than +gratifications in store for such a one. We may learn from Ahab, too, +the certainty that weakness will darken into wickedness. Such a mood as +his always brings some Jezebel or other to suggest evil ways of +succeeding. In this wicked world there are more temptations to sin than +helps to virtue, and the weak man will soon fall into some of the +abundant traps laid for him. Unless we have learned to say 'No' with +much emphasis, because we are 'strong in the Lord,' we shall fall. +'This did not I because of the fear of the Lord.' To be weak is to be +miserable, and any sin may come from it. + +II. Jezebel is a type of a different sort of wickedness. She is wicked +and strong. Notice how she takes the upper hand at once, in her abrupt +question, not without a spice of scorn; and note how Ahab answers, +bemoaning himself, putting in the forefront his fair proposal, and +making Naboth's refusal ruder than it really had been, by suppressing +its reason. Then out flashes the imperious will of this masterful +princess, who had come from a land where royalty was all-powerful, and +who had no restraints of conscience. She darts a half-contemptuous +question at Ahab, to stir him to action; for nothing moves a weak man +so much as the fear of being thought weak. 'Dost thou govern?' implies, +'If thou dost, thou mayest trample on a subject.' It should mean, 'If +thou dost, thou must jealously guard the subject's rights.' What a +proud consciousness of her power speaks in that 'I will give thee the +vineyard'! It is like Lady Macbeth's 'Give me the dagger!' No more is +said. She can keep her own counsel, and Ahab suspects that some +violence is to be used, which he had better not know. So, again, his +weakness leads him astray. He does not wish to hear what he is willing +should be done, if only he has not to do it. So feeble men hoodwink +conscience by conniving at evils which they dare not perpetrate, and +then enjoying their fruits, and saying, 'Thou canst not say I did it.' + +Jezebel had Ahab's signet, the badge of authority, which she probably +got from him for her unspoken purpose. Her letter to the elders of +Jezreel speaks out, with cynical disregard of decency, the whole ugly +conspiracy. It is direct, horribly plain, and imperative. There is a +perfect nest of sins hissing and coiled together in it. Hypocrisy +calling religion in to attest a lie, subornation of evidence, contempt +for the poor tools who are to perjure themselves, consciousness that +such work will only be done by worthless men, cool lying, ferocity, and +murder,--these are a pretty company to crowd into half a dozen lines. +Most detestable of all is the plain speaking which shows her hardened +audacity and conscious defiance of all right. To name sin by its true +name, and then to do it without a quiver, is a depth of evil reached by +few men, and perhaps fewer women. + +The plot gives a colour of legality, which is probably often unobserved +by readers. Naboth was to be accused of treason: 'renouncing God and +the king'; and that was, according to the law of Moses, a charge which, +if proved, merited capital punishment. But it is Satan accusing sin for +Jezebel, the Baal worshipper, who had done her best to root out the +name of Jehovah, to accuse Naboth of departing from God. Much +highhanded oppression must have gone before such outspoken contempt of +justice; and, if Ahab represents the fatal connection of weakness and +wickedness, Jezebel is an instance of the fatal audacity with which a +strong character may come, by long indulgence in self-willed +gratification of its own desires, to trample down all obstacles and go +crashing through all laws, human and divine. The climax of sin is to +see a deed to be sinful, and to do it all the same. Such a pre-eminence +in evil is not reached at a bound, but it can be reached; and every +indulgence in passion, and every gratifying of desire against which +conscience protests, is a step toward it. Therefore, if we shrink from +such a goal, let us turn away from the paths that lead to it. 'No +mortal man is supremely foul all at once.' Therefore resist the +beginnings of evil. Elijah was strong by natural temperament, and so +was Jezebel. But the strength of the prophet was hallowed by obedience, +and, like some great river, poured blessings where it flowed. Jezebel's +strength was lawless, and foamed itself away in fury, like some +devastating torrent that spreads ruin whithersoever it bursts out. 'Be +strong' is good advice, but it needs the supplement, 'Let all your +deeds be done in charity,' and the foundation,' Be strong in the Lord, +and in the power of His might.' + +III. The last set of actors in this pitiful tragedy are the +subserviently wicked elders. The narrative sets their slavish +compliance in a strong light. It puts emphasis on the tie between them +and Naboth, in that they 'dwelt in his city,' and so should have had +neighbourly feeling. It lays stress on their cowardly motive and their +complete execution of orders, both by reiterating that they acted 'as +Jezebel had sent' and 'as it was written,' and by taking the letter +clause by clause, in the narrative of the shameful parody of justice +which they acted. It suggests both their eagerness to do her pleasure, +and her impatient waiting, in her palace, by the message sent in hot +haste as soon as the brave peasant proprietor was dead. 'It is ill +sitting at Rome and striving with the Pope,' as the proverb has it. No +doubt these cowards were afraid for their own necks, and were too near +the royal tigress to venture disobedience. But their swift, +unremonstrating, and complete obedience indicates the depth of +degradation and corruption to which they and the nation had sunk, and +the terror exercised by their upstart king and his Sidonian wife. + +Cowardice is always contemptible, and wickedness is always odious; but +when the two come together, and a man has no other reason for his sin +than 'I was afraid,' each makes the other blacker. Israel had cast off +the fear of the Lord, which would have preserved it from the ignoble +terror of men, and the consequence was that it trembled before an +angry, unscrupulous woman. It had revolted from Rehoboam and his +foolish bluster about whips and scorpions, and the consequence was a +worse slavery. If we fear God, we need have no other fear. The sun puts +out a fire. If we rebel against Him, we do not become free, but fall +under a heavy yoke. It is never prudent to do wrong. The worst +consequences of resistance to powerful evil are easier to bear than +those of compliance, though it may seem the safer. Better be lying dead +beneath a heap of stones, like the sturdy Naboth, who could say 'No' to +a king, than be one of his stoners, who killed their innocent neighbour +to pleasure Jezebel! + +Her indecent triumph at the success of the plot, and her utter +callousness, are expressed in her words to Ahab, in which the main +point is the taking possession of the vineyard. The death of its owner +is told with exultation, as being nothing but the sweeping aside of an +obstacle. Ahab asks no questions as to how this opportune clearing away +of hindrance came about. He knew, no doubt, well enough that there had +been foul play; but that does not matter to him, and such a trifle as +murder does not slacken his glad haste to get his new toy. There was +other red on the vines than their clustering grapes, as he soon found +out, when Elijah's grim figure, like an embodied conscience, met him +there. Whoever reaches out to grasp a fancied good by breaking God's +law, may get his good, but he will get more than he expected along with +it,--even an accusing voice that prophesies evil. Elijah strides among +the leafy vines in the field bought by crime. Ahab meant to make it a +garden of pot-herbs. 'Surely the bitter wormwood of divine revenge grew +abundantly therein.' + + + + +AHAB AND ELIJAH + +'And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy!'--1 KINGS +xxi. 20. + + +The keynote of Elijah's character is force-the force of righteousness. +The New Testament, you remember, speaks of the 'power of Elias.' The +outward appearance of the man corresponds to his function and his +character. Gaunt and sinewy, dwelling in the desert, feeding on locusts +and wild honey, with a girdle of camel's skin about his loins, he +bursts into the history, amongst all that corrupt state of society, +with the force of a hammer that God's hand wields. The whole of his +career is marked by this one thing,--the strength of a righteous man. +And then, on the other hand, this Ahab;--the keynote of _his_ +character is the weakness of wickedness, and the wickedness of +weakness. Think of him. Weakly longing--as idle and weak minds in lofty +places always do--after something that belongs to somebody else; with +all his gardens, coveting the one little herb-plot of the poor Naboth; +weak and worse than womanly, turning his face to the wall and weeping +when he cannot get it; weakly desiring to have it, and yet not knowing +how to set about accomplishing his wish; and then--as is always the +case, for there are always tempters everywhere for weak people--that +beautiful fiend by his side, like the other queen in our great drama, +ready to screw the feeble man that she is wedded to, to the sticking- +place, and to dare anything to grasp that on which the heart was set. +And so the deed is done: Naboth safe stoned out of the way; and Ahab +goes down to take possession! The lesson of that is, my friend,--Weak +dallying with forbidden desires is sure to end in wicked clutching at +them. Young men, take care! You stand upon the beetling edge of a great +precipice, when you look over, from your fancied security, at a wrong +thing; and to strain too far, and to look too fixedly, leads to a +perilous danger of toppling over and being lost! If you know that a +thing cannot be won without transgression, do not tamper with +hankerings for it. Keep away from the edge, and '_shut_ your eyes +from beholding vanity.' + +But my business now is rather with the consequences of this apparently +successful sin, than with what went before it. The king gets the crime +done, shuffles it off himself on to the shoulders of his ready tools in +the little village, goes down to get his toy, and gets it--but he gets +Elijah along with it, which was more than he reckoned on. When, all +full of impatience and hot haste to solace himself with his new +possession, he rushes down to seize the vineyard, he finds there, +standing at the gate, waiting for him--black-browed, motionless, grim, +an incarnate conscience--the prophet whom he had not seen for years, +the prophet that he had last seen on Carmel, bearding alone the +servants of Baal, and executing on them the solemn judgment of death; +and there leaps at once to his lip, 'Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?' + +I. I find here, in the first place, this broad principle: Pleasure won +by sin is peace lost. + +It does not need that there should be a rebuking prophet standing by to +work out that law. God commits the execution of it to the natural +operations of our own consciences and our own spirits. Here is the fact +in men's natures on which it partly depends: when sin is yet tempting +us, it is loved; when sin in done, it is loathed. Action and reaction, +as the mechanicians tell us, are equal and contrary. The more violent +the blow with which we strike upon the forbidden pleasure, the further +back the rebound after the stroke. When sin tempts--when there hangs +glittering before a man the golden fruit which he knows that he ought +not to touch--then, amidst the noise of passion or the sophistry of +desire, conscience is silenced for a little while. No man sins without +knowing that it is wrong, without knowing that in the long run it is a +mistake; but at the instant, in the delirium of yielding, as in moments +of high physical excitement, he is blind and deaf, deaf to the voice of +reason, blind to the sight of consequences. Conscience and consequence +are alike lost sight of. Like a mad bull, the man that is tempted +lowers his head and shuts his eyes, and rushes right on. The moment +that the sin is done, that moment the passion or desire which tempted +to it is satiated, and ceases to exist for the time. It is gone as a +motive. Like some savage beast, being fed full, it lies down to sleep. +There is a vacuum left in the heart, the noise is stilled, and then-- +and then--conscience begins to speak. Or, to take another image, the +passion, the desires, the impulses that lead us to do wrong things-- +they are like a crew that mutiny, and take for a moment the wheel from +the steersman and the command from the captain, but then, having driven +the ship on the rocks, the mutineers get intoxicated, and lie down and +sleep. Passion fulfils itself, and expires. The desire is satisfied, +and it turns into a loathing. The tempter draws us to him, and then +unveils the horrid face that lies beneath the mask. When the deed is +done and cannot be undone, then comes satiety; then comes the reaction +of the fierce excitement, the hot blood begins to flow more slowly; +then rises up in the heart conscience; then rises up in majesty in the +soul reason; then flashes and flares before the eye the vivid picture +of the consequences. His 'enemy' has found the sinner. He has got the +vineyard--ay, but Elijah is there, and his dark and stern presence +sucks all the brightness and the sunniness out of the landscape; and +Naboth's blood stains the leaves of Naboth's garden! There is no sin +which is not the purchase of pleasure at the price of peace. + +Now, you will say that all that is true in regard to the grosser forms +of transgression, but that it is not true in regard to the less vulgar +and sensual kinds of crime. Of course it is most markedly observable +with regard to the coarsest kind of sins; but it is as true, though +perhaps not in the same degree--not in the same prominent, manifest way +at any rate--in regard to every sin that a man does. There is never an +evil thing which--knowing it to be evil--we commit, which does not rise +up to testify against us. As surely as (in the words of our great +philosopher poet) 'lust dwells hard by hate,' and as surely as to- +night's debauch is followed by to-morrow's headache, so surely--each +after its kind, and each in its own region--every sin lodges in the +human heart the seed of a quick-springing punishment, yea, is its own +punishment. When we come to grasp the sweet thing that we have been +tempted to seize, there is a serpent that starts up amongst all the +flowers. When the evil act is done--opposite of the prophet's roll--it +is sweet in the lips, but oh! it is bitter afterwards. 'At the last it +biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder!' + +Then, you may say again, 'All that is very much exaggerated. That is +not the sort of feeling which men that go on persistently doing wrong +things, cherish. They live quietly and contentedly enough. "There are +no bands in their death, and their strength is firm."' All that would +be true if men's consciences kept sensitive in the midst of men's sins, +but they do not; and so it cannot be that every transgression has thus +its quick result in loss of peace. I grant you at once that it is quite +possible for men to sin away the delicacy and susceptibility of their +consciences. I dare say there are people here now who, after they have +done a wrong thing, go on very quietly, with no knowledge of those +agonies that I have been speaking about, with scarcely ever a prick of +conscience for their sin. But what then? I did not say that all sin +purchased pleasure by inflictions of agony; but I do say, that all sin +purchases pleasure by loss of peace. The silence of a seared conscience +is not peace. For peace you want something more than that a conscience +shall be dumb. For peace you want something more than that you shall be +able to live without the daily sense and sting of sin. You want not +only the negative absence of pain, but the positive presence of a +tranquillising guest in your heart--that conscience of yours testifying +with you, blessing you in its witness, and shedding abroad rest and +comfort. It is easy to kill a conscience--after a fashion at least. It +is easy to stifle it. It is easy to come to that depth of wrongdoing +that one gets used to it, and does it without caring. But oh! that cold +vacuum, that dead absence in such a spirit of all healthy self- +communing, that painful suspicion, 'If I look into myself, and be quiet +for a little while, and take stock of my own character, and see what I +am, the balance will be on the wrong side,'--that is _not_ peace. +As the old historian says about the Roman armies that marched through +a country, burning and destroying every living thing, 'They make a +solitude, and they call it peace.' And so men do with their +consciences. They stifle them, sear them, forcibly silence them, +somehow or other; and then, when there is a dead stillness in the +heart, broken by no voice of either approbation or blame, but doleful +like the unnatural quiet of a deserted city, then they call that peace, +and the man's uncontrolled passions and unbridled desires dwell +solitary in the fortress of his own spirit! You _may_ almost +attain to that. Do you think it is a goal to be set before you as an +ideal of human nature? The loss of peace is certain--the presence of +agony is most likely--from every act of sin. + +And so, it is not only a _crime_ that men commit when they do +wrong, but it is a _blunder_. Sin is not only guilt, but it is a +mistake. 'The game is not worth the candle,' according to the French +proverb. The thing that you buy is not worth the price you pay for it. +Sin is like a great forest-tree that we may sometimes see standing up +green in its leafy beauty, and spreading a broad shadow over half a +field; but when we get round on the other side, there is a great dark +hollow in the very heart of it, and corruption is at work there. It is +like the poison-tree in travellers' stories, tempting weary men to rest +beneath its thick foliage, and insinuating death into the limbs that +relax in the fatal coolness of its shade. It is like the apples of +Sodom, fair to look upon, but turning to acrid ashes on the unwary +lips. It is like the magician's rod that we read about in old books. +There it lies; and if, tempted by its glitter, or fascinated by the +power that it proffers you, you take it in your hand, the thing starts +into a serpent with erected crest and sparkling eye, and plunges its +quick barb into the hand that holds it, and sends poison through all +the veins. Do not touch it, my brother! Every sin buys pleasure at the +price of peace. Elijah is always waiting at the gate of the ill-gotten +possession. + +II. In the second place, Sin is blind to its true friends and its real +foes. + +'Hast thou found me, _O mine enemy?'_ Elijah was the best friend +that Ahab had in his kingdom. And that Jezebel there, the wife of his +bosom, whom he loved and thanked for this new toy, she was the worst +foe that hell could have sent him. Ay, and so it is always. The +faithful rebuker, the merciful inflicter of pain, is the truest friend +of the wrongdoer. The worst enemy of the sinful heart is the voice that +either tempts it into sin, or lulls it into self-complacency. And this +is one of the most certain workings of evil desires in our spirits, +that they pervert for us all the relations of things, that they make us +blind to all the moral truths of God's universe. Sin is blind as to +itself, blind as to its own consequences, blind as to who are its +friends and who are its foes, blind as to earth, blind as to another +world, blind as to God. The man who walks in the 'vain show' of +transgression, whose heart is set upon evil,--he fancies that ashes are +bread, and stones gold (as in the old fairy story); and, on the other +hand, he thinks that the true sweet is the bitter, and turns away from +God's angels and God's prophets, with, 'Hast thou found me, O mine +enemy?' That is the reason, my friend, of not a little of the +infidelity that haunts this world--that sin, perverted and blinded, +stumbles about in its darkness, and mistakes the face of the friend for +the face of the foe. God sends you in mercy a conscience to prick and +sting you that you may be kept right; and you think that _it_ is +your enemy. God sends in His mercy the discipline of life, pains and +sorrows, to draw us away from the wrong, to make us believe that the +right in this world and the next is life, and that holiness is +happiness for evermore. And then, when, having done wrong, God's +merciful messenger of a sharp sorrow finds us out, we say, 'Hast thou +found me, O mine enemy?' and begin to wonder about the mysteries of +Providence, and how it comes that there is evil in the creation of a +good God. Why, physical evil is the best friend of the man that is +subject to moral evil. Sorrow is the truest blessing to a sinner. The +best thing that can befall any of us is that God shall not let us alone +in any wrong course, without making us feel His rod, without hedging up +our way with thorns, and sending us by His grace into a better one. +There is no mystery in sorrow. There is a mystery in sin; but sorrow +following on the back of sin is the true friend, and not the enemy, of +the wrong-doing spirit. + +And then, again, God sends us a gospel full of dark words about evil. +It deals with that fact of sin, as no other system ever did. There is +no book like the Bible for these two things,--for the lofty notion that +it has about what man may be and ought to be; and for the low notion +that it has of what man is. It does not degrade human nature, because +it tells us the truth about human nature as it is. Its darkest and +bitterest sayings about transgression, they are veiled promises, my +brother. It does not make the consequences of sin which it writes down. +You and I make them for ourselves, and it tells us of them. Did the +lighthouse make the rock that it stands on? Is it to be blamed for the +shipwreck? If a man _will_ go full tilt against the thing that he +knows will ruin him, what is the right name for him who hedges it up +with a prickly fence of thorns, and puts a great light above it, and +writes below, 'If thou comest here thou diest'? Is that the work of an +enemy? And yet that is why people talk about the gloomy views of the +gospel, about the narrow spirit of Christianity, about the harsh things +that are here! The Bible did not make hell. The Bible did not make sin +the parent of sorrow. The Bible did not make it certain that 'every +transgression and disobedience' should reap its 'just recompense of +reward.' We are the causes of their coming upon ourselves; and the +Bible but proclaims the end to which the paths of sin must lead, and +beseechingly calls to us all, 'Turn ye, turn ye! why will ye die?' And +yet when it comes to you, how many of you turn away from it, and say, +'It is mine enemy'! How many shrink from its merciful knife, that cuts +into all the wounds of the festering spirit! How many of you feel as if +'the truth that is in Jesus' was a hard and bitter truth; when all the +while its very heart's blood is love, and the very secret of its +message is the tenderest compassion, the most yearning sympathy, for +every soul amongst us! + +Ay, and more than that:--sin makes us fancy that God Himself is our +enemy; and sin makes that thought of God that ought to be most blessed +and most sweet to us, the terror of our souls. You have the power, my +friend, by your own wrongdoing, of perverting the whole universe, and, +worst of all, of distorting the image of the merciful Father, of the +loving God. God loves. God is the Father. God watches over us. God will +not let us alone when we transgress, God in His love has appointed that +sin shall breed sorrow. But _we_--we do wrong; and then, for God's +Providence, and God's Gospel, and God's Son, and God Himself, there +rises up in our hearts a hostile feeling, and we think that He is +turned to be our enemy, and fights against us! But oh! He only fights +against us that we may submit to, and love, Him. Will you, then, have +it that God's highest mercy should be your greatest sorrow, that your +truest friend should be your worst foe? You can make the choice. To you +God and His truth are like that ark of His covenant which to Dagon and +the Philistines was a curse, but to the house of Obededom was a +blessing. He and His gospel are to you like that pillar that was +darkness and trouble to the hosts of the Egyptians, but light by night +to His children. To you, my brother, the gospel may be either 'the +savour of life unto life, or the savour of death unto death!' If He +comes to you with rebuke, and meets you when you are at the very door +of your sin, and busy with your transgression,--usher Him in, and thank +Him, and bless Him for words of threatening, for merciful severity, for +conviction of sin;--because conviction of sin is the work of the +Comforter; and all the threatenings and all the pains that follow and +track, like swift hounds, the committer of evil, are sent by Him who +loves too wisely not to punish transgression, and loves too well to +punish without warning, and desires only when He punishes that we +should turn from our evil way, and escape the condemnation. An enemy, +or a friend,--which is God in His truth to you? + +III. Lastly, the sin which mistakes the friendly appeal for an enemy, +lays up for itself a terrible retribution. Elijah comes to Jezreel and +prophesies the fall of Ahab. The next peal, the next flash, fulfil the +prediction. There, where he did the wrong, he suffered. In Jezreel, +Ahab died. In Jezreel, Jezebel died. That plain was the battlefield for +the subsequent discomfiture of Israel. Over and over again there +encamped upon it the hosts of the spoilers. Over and over again its +soil ran red with the blood of the children of Israel; and at last, in +the destruction of the kingdom, Naboth was avenged and God's word +fulfilled. The threatened evil was foretold that it might lead the king +to repentance, and that thus it might never need to be more than a +threat. But, though Ahab was partially penitent, and partially listened +to the prophet's voice, yet for all that, he went on in his evil way. +Therefore the merciful threatening becomes a stern prophecy, and is +fulfilled to the very letter. + +So, when God's message comes to us, friends, if we listen not to it, +and turn not to its gentle rebuke, Oh! then we gather up for ourselves +an awful futurity of judgment, when threatening will darken into +punishment, and the voice that rebuked will swell into the voice of +final condemnation. When a man fancies that God's prophet is his enemy, +and dreams that his finding him out is a calamity and a loss, that man +may be certain that something worse will find him out some day. His +sins will find him out, and that is worse than the prophet's coming. My +friend, picture to yourself this--a human spirit shut up, with the +companionship of its forgotten and dead transgressions. There is a +resurrection of acts as well as of bodies. Think what it will be for a +man to sit surrounded by that ghastly company, the ghosts of his own +sins!--and as each forgotten fault and buried badness comes, silent and +sheeted, into that awful society, and sits itself down there, think of +him greeting each with the question, 'Thou too? What! are ye all here? +Hast _thou_ found me, O mine enemy?' and from each bloodless +spectral lip there tolls out the answer, the knell of his life, 'I +_have_ found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in +the sight of the Lord.' Ah, my friend! if that were all we had to say, +it might well stiffen us into stony despair. Thank God--thank God! such +an issue is not inevitable. Christ speaks to you. Christ is your +_Friend_. He loves you, and He speaks to you now--speaks to you of +your danger, but in order that you may never rush into it and be +engulfed by it; speaks to you of your sin, but in order that you may +say to Him, 'Take Thou it away, O merciful Lord'; speaks to you of +justice, but in order that you may never sink beneath the weight of His +stroke; speaks to you of love, in order that you may know, and fully +know, the depth of His graciousness. When He says to you, 'I love thee; +love thou Me: I have died for thee; trust Me, live _by_ Me, and +live _for_ Me, 'will you not say to Him, 'My Friend, my Brother, +my Lord, and my God'? + + + + +UNPOSSESSED POSSESSIONS + +'And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in +Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the +king of Syria?'--1 KINGS xxii. 3. + + +This city of Ramoth in Gilead was an important fortified place on the +eastern side of the Jordan, and had, many years before the date of our +text, been captured by its northern neighbours in the kingdom of Syria. +A treaty had subsequently been concluded and broken a war followed +thereafter, in which Ben-hadad, King of Syria, had bound himself to +restore all his conquests. He had not observed that article of peace, +and the people of Israel had not been strong enough to enforce it until +the date of our text; but then, backed up by a powerful alliance with +Jehoshaphat of Judah, they determined to make a dash to get back what +was theirs, but whilst theirs was also not theirs. + +Now, I have nothing more to do with Ahab and Jehoshaphat, but I wish to +turn the words of my test, and the thoughts that may come from them, +into a direction profitable to ourselves. 'Know ye that Ramoth in +Gilead is ours?' and yet it had to be got out of the hands of the King +of Syria. + +I. What is ours and not ours. + +Every Christian man has large tracts of unannexed territory, unattained +possibilities, unenjoyed blessings, things that are his and yet not +his. How much more of God you and I have a right to than we have the +possession of! The ocean is ours, but only the little pailful that we +carry away home to our own houses is of use to us. The whole of God is +mine if I am Christ's, and a dribble of God is all that comes into the +lives of most of us. + +How much inward peace is ours? It is meant that there should never pass +across a Christian's soul more than a ripple of agitation, which may +indeed ruffle and curl the surface; but deep down there should be the +tranquillity of the fathomless ocean, unbroken by any tempests, and yet +not stagnant, because there is a vital current running through it, and +every drop is being drawn upward to the surface and the sunlight. There +may be a peace in our hearts deep as life; a tranquillity which may be +superficially disturbed, but is never thoroughly, and down in its +depths, broken. And yet, let some little petty annoyance come into our +daily life, and what a pucker we are in! Then we forget all about the +still depths in which we ought to be living; and fears and hopes and +loves and ambitions disturb our souls, just as they do the spirits of +the men that do not profess to have any holdfast in God. The peace of +God is ours; but, ah! in how sad a sense it is true that the peace of +God is _not_ ours! + +What 'heights'--for Ramoth means 'high places'--what heights of +consecration there are which are ours according to the divine purpose +and according to the fulness of God's gift! It is meant, and it is +possible, and well within the reach of every Christian soul, that he or +she should live, day by day, in the continual and utter surrender of +himself or herself to the will of God, and should say, 'I do the little +I can do, and leave the rest with Thee'; and should say again, 'All is +right that seems most wrong, If it be His sweet will.' But instead of +this absolute submission and completeness and joyfulness of surrender +of ourselves to Him, what do we find? Reluctance to obey, regret at +providences, Self dominant or struggling hard against the partial +domination of the will of God in our hearts. The mind which was in +Jesus Christ, who was able to say, 'It is written of Me, lo! I come to +do Thy will, O Lord!' is ours by virtue of our being Christians; but, +alas! in practical realisation how sadly it is not ours! + +What noble possibilities of service, what power in the world, are +bestowed on Christ's people!' All power is given unto Me in heaven and +in earth,' says He. 'And He breathed on them, and said, As My Father +hath sent Me, even so send I you.' The divine gift to the Christian +community, and to the individuals that compose it--for there are no +gifts given to the community, but to the individuals that make it up-- +is of fulness of power for all their work. And yet look how, all +through the ages, the Church has been beaten by the corruption of the +world; and how to-day many of us are standing, either utterly careless +and callous about the diseases that we have the medicine to cure, or in +desperation looking about for other healing for the social and moral +condition of the community than that which is granted to us in Jesus +Christ. 'Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and +take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria?' + +There is ever so much in the world which belongs to our Master, and +therefore belongs to us, and which the Church is bound to lay its hand +upon and claim for its own and for its Lord's. For remember, brethren, +that all the gifts at which I have been glancing--and I might have +largely increased the catalogue--all these spiritual endowments of +peace, and safety, and purity, and joy, of religious elevation, and +consecration, and power for service, and the like--are ours by a +threefold title and charter. God's purpose, which is nothing less for +every one of us than that we should be 'filled with all the fulness of +God,' and that He should 'supply all our need, according to His riches +in glory,'--that is the first of the parchments on which our title +depends. And the second title-deed is Christ's purchase; for the +efficacy of His death and the power of His triumphant life have secured +for all who trust Him the whole fulness of this divine gift. And the +third of our claims and titles is the influence of that Holy Spirit +whom Jesus Christ gives to every one of His children to dwell in him. +There is in you, working in you, if you have any faith in that Lord, a +power that is capable of making you perfectly pure, perfectly blessed, +strong with an immortal strength, and glad with a 'joy that is +unspeakable and full of glory.' + +Oh! then, let us think of the awful contrast between what is ours and +what we have. It is ours by the divine intention, by the divine gift in +its fulness and all-sufficiency, and yet think of the poor, partial +realisation of it that has passed into our experience. Be sure that you +have what you have, and that you make your own what God has made yours. + +II. Then, let me suggest, again, how our text hints for us, not only +the difference between possession and realisation, but also our strange +contentment in imperfect possession. + +Ahab's remonstrances with his servants, which make the starting-point +of my remarks, seem to suggest that there were two reasons for their +acquiescence in the domination of a foreign power on a bit of their +soil. They had not realised that Ramoth was theirs, and they were too +lazy and cowardly to go and take it. Ignorance of the fulness of the +gift, and slothful timidity in daring everything in the effort to make +it ours, explain a great deal of the present condition of Christian +people. + +Is not that condition of passive acquiescence in their small present +attainments, and of careless indifference to the great stretch of the +unattained, the characteristic of the mass of professing Christians? +They have got a foothold on a new continent, and their possession of it +is like the world's drawing of the map of Africa when we were children, +which had a settlement dotted here and there along the coast, and all +the broad regions of the interior were blank. The settlers huddle +together upon the fringe of barren sand by the salt water, and never +dream of pressing forward into the heart of the land. And so, too, many +of us are content with what we have got, a little bit of God, when we +might have Him all; a settlement on the fringe and edge of the land, +when we might traverse the whole length of it; and behold! it is all +ours. + +That unfamiliarity with the thought of unattained possibilities in the +Christian life is a damning curse of thousands of people who call +themselves Christians. They do not think, they never realise--and some +of us are guilty in this respect--they never realise that it is +possible for them to be all unlike what they are now, and that, instead +of the miserable partial hallowing of their nature, and the poor, weak +--I was going to say strength, but it is not worth calling strength, +that they possess, they might be as the angels of God: 'the weakest as +David,' and David as a very angel of heaven itself. Why is it, why is +it, that there is this unfamiliarity? + +And then, another reason for the woful disproportion between what we +have and what we utilise is the love of ease, such as kept these +Israelites from going up to Ramoth-Gilead. It was a long way off; there +was a river to be forded; there were heights to be climbed; there were +weary marches to be taken; there were hard knocks going in front of the +walls of Ramoth before they got inside it; and on the whole it was more +comfortable to sit at home, or look after their farms and their +merchandise, than to embark on the quixotic attempt to win back a city +that had not been theirs for ever so long, and that they had got on +very well without. + +And so it is with hosts of Christian people; we do not realise how much +we have that we never get any good out of. And, in the second place, we +had rather just stay where we are, and make the best of the world as it +is, and the desires of our hearts go in another direction than for our +increase in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour. Ah, +brethren! if we had a claim to some great property, or any other wealth +that we really cared about, should we be so very indifferent as to +asserting our rights? Should we not fight to the death, some of us, for +the last inch of soil, for the last ounce of treasure, that belonged to +us? When you really value a thing, you secure the greatest possible +amount of it; and there is very little margin between what you own and +what you use. + +And if there is such a tremendous difference between the breadth of the +one and the narrowness of the other in our Christian life, there can be +no reason for it except this, that we do not care enough about +spiritual blessings and forces to make the effort that is needed to win +and keep, and get the good of, all that is ours. + +And is not that something like despising the birthright? Is it not a +criminal thing for Christian people thus to neglect, and to put aside, +and never to seek to obtain, all these great gifts of God? There they +lie at our doors, and they are ours for the taking. Suppose a carrier +brought you a whole waggon full of precious goods, and put them down at +your door, and you were not at the trouble to open your doors, or to +carry the goods into your cellars. That would not look as if you cared +much either for the goods or for the giver. And I wonder how many of us +are chargeable with that criminal despising of God's gifts, which is +clearly the explanation of our letting them lie rotting, as it were, at +our gates? We are starving paupers in the midst of plenty. + +'My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory, by +Christ Jesus,' says Paul. You have the right to them all. Draw cheques +against the capital that is lodged in your name in that great bank. + +III. And so, lastly, my text suggests the effort that is needed to make +our own ours. + +'We be still, and take it not out of the hands of the King of Syria.' +Then these things that are ours, by God's gift, by Christ's purchase, +by the Spirit's influence, will need our effort to secure them. And +that is no contradiction, nor any paradox. God does exactly in the same +way with regard to a great many of His natural gifts as He does with +regard to His spiritual ones. He gives them to us, but we hold them on +this tenure, that we put forth our best efforts to get and to keep +them. His giving them does not set aside our taking. However much we +tried we could not take them out of His hand if it were clenched. Open +as His hand is, and stretched out to us as it is, the gifts that +sparkle in it are not transferred to our hands unless we ourselves put +forth an effort. + +So let me say that one large part of the discipline by which men make +their own their own is by familiarising themselves with the thought of +the larger possibilities of unattained possessions which God has given +them. That is true in everything. To recognise our present +imperfection, and to see stretching before us glorious and immense +possibilities, opening out into a vista where our eyesight fails us to +travel to its end, is the very salt of life in every region. Artist, +student, all of us 'are saved by hope,' in a very much wider sense than +the Apostle meant by that great saying. And whosoever has once lost, or +felt becoming dim, the vision before him of a possible better than his +present best, in any region, is in that region condemned to grow no +more. If we desire to have any kind of advancement, it is only possible +for us, when there gleams ever before us the untravelled road, and we +see at the end of it unattained brightnesses and blessings. + +And we Christian people have an endless prospect of that sort +stretching before us. Oh, if we looked at it oftener, 'having respect +unto the recompense of the reward,' we should find it easier to dash at +any Ramoth-Gilead, and get it out of the hands of the strongest of the +enemies that may bar our way to it. Let us familiarise ourselves with +the thought of our present imperfection, and of our future +completeness, and of the possibilities which may become actualities, +even here and now; and let us not fitfully use what power we have, but +make the best of what graces are ours, and enjoy and expatiate in the +spiritual blessings of peace and rest which Christ has already given to +us. 'To him that hath shall be given,' and the surest way to lose what +we have is to neglect to increase it. + +And, above all, let us keep nearer to our Master, and live more in +fellowship with our Lord, and that will help us to deny ourselves to +ungodliness and worldly lusts. It is the prevalence of these, and the +absence of self-denial, that ruins most of the Christian lives that are +ruined in this world. If a man wants to be what he is not, he must +cease to be what he is. + +Self-sacrifice, and the emptying of our hearts of trash and trifles, is +the only way to get our hearts filled with God and with His blessing. +Let us keep near Jesus Christ. If we have Him for ours we have peace, +we have power, we have purity. 'He of God is made unto us' all in all, +and every gift that may adorn humanity, and make our lives joyous and +ourselves noble, is given to us in Jesus Christ. Let us put away from +ourselves, then, this slothful indifference to our unattained +possessions. 'Know ye that Ramoth is ours?' 'Let us be still' no +longer. 'All things are yours, whether the world, or life, or death, or +things present, or things to come: all are yours if ye are Christ's.' + + + + +AHAB AND MICAIAH + +'And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, +that we might enquire of him? 8. And the king of Israel said unto +Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we +may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good +concerning me, but evil.'--1 KINGS xxii. 7,8. + + +An ill-omened alliance had been struck up between Ahab of Israel and +Jehoshaphat of Judah. The latter, who would have been much better in +Jerusalem, had come down to Samaria to join in an assault on the +kingdom of Damascus; but, like a great many other people, Jehoshaphat +first made up his mind without asking God, and then thought that it +might be well to get some kind of varnish of a religious sanction for +his decision. So he proposes to Ahab to inquire of the Lord about this +matter. One would have thought that that should have been done before, +and not after, the determination was made. Ahab does not at all see the +necessity for such a thing, but, to please his scrupulous ally, he +sends for his priests. They came, four hundred of them, and of course +they all played the tune that Ahab called for. It is not difficult to +get prophets to pat a king on the back, and tell him, 'Do what you +like.' + +But Jehoshaphat was not satisfied yet. Perhaps he thought that Ahab's +clergy were not exactly God's prophets, but at all events he wanted an +independent opinion; and so he asks if there is not in all Samaria a +man that can be trusted to speak out. He gets for answer the name of +this 'Micaiah the son of Imlah.' Ahab had had experience of him, and +knew his man; and the very name leads him to an explosion of passion, +which, like other explosions, lays bare some very ugly depths. 'I hate +him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.' + +That is a curious mood, is it not? that a man should know another to be +a messenger of God, and therefore know that his words are true, and +that if he asked his counsel he would be forbidden to do the thing that +he is dead set on doing, and would be warned that to do it was +destruction; and that still he should not ask the counsel, nor ever +dream of dropping the purpose, but should burst out in a passion of +puerile rage against the counsellor, and will have none of his +reproofs. Very curious! But there are a great many of us that have +something of the same mood in us, though we do not speak it out as +plainly as Ahab did. It lurks more or less in us all, and it largely +determines the attitude that some of us take to Christianity and to +Christ. So I wish to say a word or two about it. + +I. My text suggests the inevitable opposition between a message from +God, and man's evil. + +No doubt, God is love; and just because He is, it is absolutely +necessary that what comes from Him, and is the reflex and cast, so to +speak, of His character, should be in stern and continual antagonism to +that evil which is the worst foe of men, and is sure to lead to their +death. It is because God is love, that 'to the froward He shows Himself +froward.' and opposes that which, unopposed and yielded to, will ruin +the man that does it. So this is one of the characteristic marks of all +true messages from God, that men who will not part with their evil call +them 'stern,' 'rigid,' 'gloomy,' 'narrow' Yes, of course; because God +must look upon godless lives with disapprobation, and must desire by +all means to draw men away from that which is drawing them away +_from_ Him and to their death. + +Now, I suppose I need not spend time in enumerating or describing the +points in the attitude of Christianity towards the solemn fact of human +sin, which correspond to Ahab's complaint that the prophet spake always +'not good concerning him, but evil.' The 'gospel' of Jesus Christ +proves its name to be true, and that it _is_ 'good news,' not only +by its graciousness, its promises, its offers, and the rich blessings +of eternal life with which its hands are full, but by its severity, as +men call it. One characteristic of the gospel is the altogether unique +place which the fact of sin fills in it. There is no other religion on +the face of the earth that has so grasped and made prominent this +thought: 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.' There is +none that has painted human nature as it is in such dark colours, +because there is none that knows itself to be able to change human +nature into such radiance of glory and purity. The gospel has, if I +might so say, on its palette a far greater range of pigments than any +other system. Its blacks are blacker; its whites are whiter; its golds +are more lustrous than those of other painters of human nature as it is +and as it may become. It is a mark of its divine origin that it +unfalteringly looks facts in the face, and will not say smooth things +about men as they are. + +Side by side with that characteristic of the dark picture which it +draws of us, as we are in ourselves, is its unhesitating restraint or +condemnation of deep-seated desires and tendencies. It does not come to +men with the smooth words on its lips, 'Do as thou wilt.' It does not +seek for favour by relaxing bonds, but it rigidly builds up a wall on +either side of a narrow path, and says, 'Walk within these limits and +thou art safe. Go beyond them a hair's-breadth, and thou perishest.' It +may suit Ahab's prophets to fling the reins on the neck of human +nature; God's prophet says, 'Thou shalt not,' That is another of the +tests of divine origin, that there shall be no base compliance with +inclinations, but rigid condemnation of many of our deep desires. + +Side by side with these two, there is a third characteristic that the +Word, which is the outcome and expression of the divine love, is +distinguished by its plain and stern declarations of the bitter +consequences of evil-doing. I need not dwell upon these, brethren. They +seem to me to be far too solemn to be spoken of by a man to men in +other words than Scripture's. But I beseech you to remember that this, +too, is the characteristic of Christ's message. So a man should feel, +when he thinks of the dark and solemn things that the Old Testament +partially, and the New Testament more clearly, utter as to the death +which is the outcome of sin, that these are indeed the very voice of +infinite love pleading with us all. Brother I do not so misapprehend +facts as to think that the restraints and threatenings and dark +pictures which Christ and His servants have drawn are anything but the +utterance of the purest affection. + +II. Now, secondly, let me ask you to look for a moment at the strange +dislike which this attitude of Christianity kindles. + +I have said that Ahab's mental condition was a very odd one. Strange as +it is, it is, as I have already remarked, in some degree a very +frequent one. There are in us all, as we see in many regions of life, +the beginnings of the same kind of feeling. Here, for example, is a +course that I am quite sure, if I pursue it, will land me in evil. Does +the drunkard take a glass the less, because he knows that if he goes on +he will have a drunkard's liver and die a miserable death? Does the +gambler ever take away his hand from the pack of cards or the dice-box, +because he knows that play means, in the long run, poverty and +disgrace? When a man sets his will upon a certain course, he is like a +bull that has started in its rage. Down goes the head, and, with eyes +shut, he will charge a stone wall or an iron door, though he knows it +will smash his skull. Men are very foolish animals; and there is no +greater mark of their folly than the conspicuous and oft-repeated fact +that the clearest vision of the consequences of a course of conduct is +powerless to turn a man from it, when once his passions, or his will, +or, worse still, his weakness, or, worst of all, his habits, have bound +him to it. + +Take another illustration. Do we not all know that honest friends have +sometimes fallen out of favour, perhaps with ourselves, because they +have persistently kept telling us what our consciences and common-sense +knew to be true, that if we go on by that road we shall be suffocated +in a bog? A man makes up his mind to a course of conduct. He has a +shrewd suspicion that an honest friend will condemn him, and that the +condemnation will be right. What does he do, therefore? He never +consults his friend, but if by chance that friend should say what was +expected of him, he gets angry with his adviser and doggedly goes his +own road. I suppose we all know what it is to treat our consciences in +the style in which Ahab treated Micaiah. We do not listen to them +because we know what they will say before they have said it; and we +call ourselves sensible people! Martin Luther once said, 'It is neither +safe nor _wise_ to do anything against conscience.' But Ahab put +Micaiah in prison; and we shut up our consciences in a dungeon, and put +a gag in their mouths, and a muffler over the gag, that we may hear +them say no word, because we know that what we are doing, and we are +doggedly determined to do, is wrong. + +But the saddest illustration of this infatuation is to be found in the +attitude that many men take in regard to Christianity. There is a great +craving to-day, more perhaps than there has been in some other periods +of the world's history, for a religion which shall adorn, but shall not +restrain; for a religion which shall be toothless, and have no bite in +it; for a religion that shall sanction anything that it pleases our +sovereign mightiness to want to do. We should all like to have God's +sanction for our actions. But there are a great many of us who will not +take the only way to secure that--viz. to do the actions which He +commands, and to abstain from those which He forbids. Popular +Christianity is a very easy-fitting garment; it is like an old shoe +that you can slip off and on without any difficulty. But a religion +which does not put up a strong barrier between you and many of your +inclinations in not worth anything. The mark of a message from God is +that it restrains and coerces and forbids and commands. And some of you +do not like it because it does. + +There is a great tendency in this day to cut out of the Old and New +Testaments all the pages that say things like this, 'The soul that +sinneth it shall die'; or things like this, 'This is the condemnation, +that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than +light'; or things like this, 'Then shall the wicked go away into outer +darkness.' Brethren, men being what they are, and God being what He is, +there can be no divine message without a side of what the world calls +threatening, or what Ahab called' prophesying evil.' I beseech you, do +not be carried away by the modern talk about Christianity being gloomy +and dark, or fancy that we put a blot and an excrescence upon the pure +religion of the Man of Nazareth, when we speak of the death that +follows sin, and of the darkness into which unbelief carries a man. + +III. Once more, let me say a word about the intense folly of such an +attitude. + +Ahab hated Micaiah. Why? Because Micaiah told him what would come to +him as the fruit of his own actions. That was foolish. It is no less +foolish for people to take up a position of dislike, and to turn away +from the gospel of Jesus Christ because it speaks in like manner. I +said that men are very foolish animals; there is surely nothing in all +the annals of human stupidity more stupid than to be angry with the +word that tells you the truth about what you are bringing down upon +your heads. It is absurd, because Micaiah did not make the evil, but +Ahab made it; and Micaiah's business was only to tell him what he was +doing. It is absurd, because the only question to be asked is. Are the +warnings true? are the threatenings representations of what really will +come? are the prohibitions reasonable? And it is absurd, because, if +these things are so--if it is true that the soul that sinneth dies, and +will die; if it is true that you, who have heard of the name and the +salvation of Jesus Christ over and over again, and have turned away +from it, will, if you continue in that negligence and unbelief, reap +bitter fruits here and hereafter therefrom--if these things are true, +surely the man that tells you so, and the gospel that tells you so, +deserve better treatment than Ahab's petulant hatred or your stolid +indifference and neglect. + +Would you think it wise for a sea-captain to try to take the clapper +out of the bell that floats and tolls above a shoal on which his ship +will be wrecked if it strikes? Would it be wise to put out the +lighthouse lamps, and then think that you had abolished the reef? Does +the signalman with his red flag make the danger of which he warns, and +is it not like a baby to hate and to neglect the message that comes to +you and says, 'Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die'? + +IV. So, lastly, I notice the end of this foolish attitude. + +Ahab was told in plain words by Micaiah, before the interview closed, +that he would never come back again in peace. He ordered the bold +prophet into prison, and rode away gaily, no doubt, to his campaign. +Weak men are very often obstinate, because they are not strong enough +to rise to the height of changing a purpose when reason condemns it. +This weak man was always obstinate in the wrong place, as so many of us +are. So away he went, down from Samaria, across the plain, down to the +fords of the Jordan. But when he had crossed to the other side, and was +coming near his objective point, the memories of Micaiah in prison at +Samaria began to sit heavy on his soul. + +So he tried to deceive divine judgment, and got up an ingenious scheme +by which his ally was to go into the field in royal pomp, and he to +slip into it disguised. A great many of us try to hoodwink God, and it +does not answer. The man who 'drew the bow at a venture' had his hand +guided by a higher Hand. Ahab was plated all over with iron and brass, +but there is always a crevice through which God's arrow can find its +way; and, where God's arrow finds its way, it kills. When the night +fell, he was lying dead on his chariot floor, and the host was +scattered, and Micaiah, the prisoner, was avenged; and his word had +taken hold on the despiser of it. + +So it always will be. So it will be with us, dear brethren, if we do +not give heed to our ways and listen to the word which may be bitter in +the mouth, but, eaten, turns sweet as honey. Nailing the index of the +barometer to 'set fair' will not keep off the thunderstorm, and no +negligence or dislike of divine threatenings will arrest the slow, +solemn march, inevitable as destiny, of the consequences of our doings. +Things will be as they will be. Believed or unbelieved, the avalanche +will come. + +Dear brethren, there is one way to get Micaiah on your side. Listen to +him, and then he will speak good to you, and not what you foolishly +call evil. Let God's word convince you of sin. Let it bring you to the +Cross for pardon. Jesus Christ addresses each of us in the Apostle's +words: 'Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?' +The sternest threatenings in the Bible come from the lips of that +infinite Love. If you will listen to Him, if you will yield yourselves +to Him, if you will take Him for your Saviour and your Lord, if you +will cast your confidence and anchor your love upon Him, if you will +let Him restrain you, if you will consult Him about what He would have +you do, if you will accept His prohibitions as well as His permissions, +then His word and His act to you, here and hereafter, will be only good +and not evil, all the days of your life. + +Remember Ahab lying dead on the floor of his chariot in a pool of his +own blood, and bethink yourselves of what despising the threatenings, +and turning away from the rebukes and prohibitions of the divine word, +come to. These threatenings are spoken that they may never need to be +put in effect. If you give heed to them they will never be put in +effect in regard to you, if you neglect them and 'will none of' God's +'reproof,' they will come down on you like a mighty rock loosed from +the mountain, and will grind you to powder. + + + + +THE CHARIOT OF FIRE + +'And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by +a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2. And Elijah +said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to +Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul +liveth, I will not leave thee. 80 they went down to Beth-el 3, And the +sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha and said +unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy +head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 4. And +Elijah laid unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord +hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy +soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5. And the +sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and laid unto +him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head +to-day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 6. And +Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here: for the Lord hath sent +me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, +I will not leave thee. And they two went on. 7. And fifty men of the +eons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two +stood by Jordan. 8. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it +together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and +thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9. And it came to +pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what +I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, +I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10. And he +said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I +am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not +be so. 11. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, +that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and +parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into +heaven.'--2 KINGS ii. 1-11. + + +Elijah's end is in keeping with his career. From his first abrupt +appearance it had been fitly symbolised by the stormy wind and flaming +fire which he heard and saw at Horeb, and now these were to be the +vehicles which should sweep him into the heavens. He came like a +whirlwind, he burned like a fire, and in fire and whirlwind he +disappeared. The story is wonderful in pathos and simplicity. Surely +never was such a miracle told so quietly. The actual ascension is +narrated in a sentence. Its preliminaries take up the rest of this +narrative. + +I. This journey from Gilgal to the eastern side of Jordan is minutely +described in its stages. Apparently this Gilgal is not the well-known +place so called, which was down in the Jordan valley close to Jericho, +else the road from it to Bethel could not have been called a going down +(v. 2). It probably lay to the north of Bethel, which would then be +between it and Jericho, where the Jordan was to be passed. Elijah was +not sent on an aimless round of farewell visits, but by the direct road +to his destination. Note that he and Elisha and the 'sons of the +prophets' all know that he is near his end. How this came about we are +not told, and need not speculate; but though all knew, none seems to +have known that the others knew. Elijah does not explain to Elisha why +he wished him to stay behind, nor Elisha to Elijah why he was so +resolved to keep by him. The knowledge and the silence would give +peculiar solemnity and sweet bitterness to these last hours. How often +a similar combination weighs on the hearts of a household, who all know +that a dear one is soon to be taken away, and yet can only be silent +about what is uppermost in their thoughts! + +Why did Elijah wish Elisha to stay behind? Apparently to spare him the +pain of seeing his master depart. With loving concealment, he tried to +make Elisha suppose that his errand to Bethel and then to Jericho was +but a common one, to be soon despatched. It was a little touch of +tenderness in the strong, rough man. Note, too, the gradual disclosure +to Elijah of the places to which he was to go. He is only bid to go to +Bethel, and not till he gets there is he further sent on to Jericho, +and, presumably, only when there is directed to cross Jordan. God does +not show all the road at once, even if it lead to glory, but step by +step, and a second stage only when we have obediently traversed the +first. We get light as we go. Elisha's clinging to his master till the +very last is but too intelligible to many of us who have gone through +the same sorrow, and counted each moment of companionship with some +dear one about to leave earth as priceless gain, to be treasured in the +sacredest recesses of memory for evermore. + +It has been thought that the object of the visits to Bethel and Jericho +was to give parting directions to the schools of the prophets at each +place; but that is read into the narrative, which gives no hint that +Elijah had any communication with these. Rather the contrary is +implied, both in the fact that the 'sons of the prophets' came to the +travellers, not the travellers to them, and in their addressing Elisha, +as if some awe of the master kept them from speaking to him. An Elijah +marching to his chariot of fire was not a man for raw youths to +approach lightly. Their question is met by Elisha with curtness and +scant courtesy, which indicates that it was asked in no sympathetic +spirit, but from mere love of telling bad news, and of vulgar +excitement. Even the gentle Elisha is stirred to rebuke the gossiping +chatterers, who intrude their curiosity into that sacred hour. There +are abundance of such busy-bodies always ready to buzz about any +bleeding heart, and sorrow has often to be stern in order to be +unmolested. + +II. The second stage is the passage of Jordan. The verbal repetition of +the same dialogue at Jericho as at Bethel increases the impression of +prolonged loving struggle between the two prophets. At last, they stand +on the western bank of Jordan, at their feet the spot where the +hurrying river had been stayed by the ark till the tribes had passed +over, before them the mountains bordering Elijah's homeland of Gilead +on the left, and away on the right the lone peak where Moses had died +'by the mouth of the Lord.' The soil was redolent of the miracles of +the Mosaic age, and the dividing of the waters by Elijah is meant to +bring the present into vital connection with that past, and to +designate him as parallel with the former leader. Note the vigour with +which he twists his characteristic mantle into a kind of rod, and +strikes the waters strongly. The repetition of the former miracle is a +sign that the unexhausted Power which wrought it is with Elijah. The +God of yesterday is the God of to-day, and nothing that was done in the +past but will be repeated in essence, though not in form, in the +present. 'As we have heard so have we seen.' The former miracle had +been done for a nation; this is performed for two men. It teaches the +preciousness of His individual servants in God's eyes. The former had +been done through the ark; this, by the prophet's mantle. Power is +lodged in the faithful messenger. God's strength dwells in those who +love Him. The former miracle had been the close of the desert +wanderings and the gateway to Canaan. Though Elijah's face is turned in +the opposite direction, does not its repetition suggest that for him, +too, the impending translation was to be the end of wilderness +weariness and toil, and the entrance on rest? + +III. Elisha's request is the next stage in the story. How far they two +'went on' is not told. The Bible does not foster the craving to know +the exact situation where sacred things happened, the gratification of +which might feed superstition, but could not increase reverence. +Possibly they had drawn near the eastern hills, and were out of sight +of the fifty curious gazers on the other hank. Elijah at last spoke the +truth which both knew. How true to nature is that reticence kept up +till the last moment, and then broken so tenderly!--'Ask what I shall +do for thee, before.' Probably he did not mean any supernatural gift, +but simply some parting token of love; for he is startled at the +response of Elisha. A true disciple can desire nothing more than a +portion of his master's spirit. 'It is enough for the disciple that he +be as his Master.' They covet wisely and with a noble covetousness who +most desire spiritual gifts to fit them for their vocation. It was an +unworldly soul which asked but for such a legacy. + +The 'double portion' does not mean twice as much as Elijah's portion +had been, but twice as much as other 'sons of the prophets' would +receive. Elisha reckoned himself Elijah's first-born spiritual son, and +asked for the elder brother's share, because he had been designated as +successor, and would require more than others for his work. The new +sense of responsibility is coming on him, and teaching him his need. +Well for us if higher positions make us lowlier, in the consciousness +of our own unfitness without divine help! Elijah knows that his spirit +was not his to give, and can only refer his successor to the Fountain +from which he had drawn; for the sign which he gives is obviously not +within his power to determine. If the Lord shows the ascending master +to him who is left, He will give the servant his desire. + +A portion of their 'spirit' is the very thing which teachers and +prophets cannot give. They may give their systems or their methods, +their favourite ideas or cut-and-dry maxims and principles, and so +leave a race of pygmies who give themselves airs as being their +disciples, but their spirit they cannot impart. Contrast with this +limitation of power confessed by Elijah, His consciousness who breathed +on eleven poor men, and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' No man could +say that without absurdity or blasphemy. The gift impossible to man is +the very characteristic gift of Jesus, who 'has power over the Spirit +of holiness.' Must He not thereby be 'declared to be the Son of God'? + +IV. The climax of this lesson is that stupendous scene of the +translation. Note how the 'Behold' suggests the suddenness of the +appearance of the fiery chariot, which came flaming between the two men +eagerly talking, and drove them apart. The description of the +departure, in its brevity and incompleteness, sounds like the report of +the only eye-witness, who had the fiery chariot between him and Elijah, +and was too bewildered to see precisely what happened. All he knew was +the sudden appearance of the fiery equipage, and then that, suddenly, +and apparently swiftly, a rushing mighty wind swept away chariot and +prophet into the heavens. He saw it, as the next verse after this +passage tells us, only long enough to break into one rapturous and yet +lamenting cry, and then all vanished, and he stood alone with an +apparently empty heaven above him, the whirlwind sunk to calm, and +Elijah's mantle at his feet. + +The teaching of the event is plain. As for the pre-Mosaic ages the +translation of Enoch, and for the earlier Mosaic epoch the mysterious +death of Moses, so for the prophetic period the carrying to heaven of +Elijah, witnessed of a life beyond death, and of death as the wages of +sin, which God could remit, if He willed, in the case of faithful +service. Enoch and Elijah were led round the head of the valley on the +heights, and reached the other side without having to go down into the +cold waters flowing in the bottom; and though we cannot tread their +path, the joy of their experience has not ceased to be a joy to us, if +we walk with God. Death is still the coming of the chariot and horses +of fire to bear the believer home. The same exclamation which fell from +Elisha's lips, as he saw the chariot sweep up the sky, was spoken over +him as he lay sick 'of the sickness whereof he should die.' + +But the most instructive view of Elijah's translation is its parallel +and contrast with Christ's Ascension. The one was by outward means; the +other by inward energy. Storm and fire bore Elijah up into a region +strange to him. Christ 'ascended up where He was before,' returning by +the propriety of His nature to His eternal dwelling-place. The one is +accomplished with significant disturbance, of whirlwind and flame; the +other is gentle, like the life which it closed, and the last sight of +Him was with extended hands of blessing. Each life closed in a manner +corresponding to its character. The one was swift and sudden. The other +was a slow, solemn motion, vividly described as being 'borne upwards' +and as 'going into heaven.' The one bore a mortal into 'heaven.' In the +other, the Son of God, our great High Priest, 'hath passed through the +heavens,' and now, far above them all, He is 'Head over all things.' + + + + +THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH AND THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST + +'And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, +there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them +both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.'--2 KINGS +ii. 11. + +'And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, +and carried up into heaven.'--LUKE xxiv. 51. + + +These two events, the translation of Elijah and the Ascension of our +Lord, have sometimes been put side by side in order to show that the +latter narrative is nothing but a 'variant' of the former. See, it is +said, the source of your New Testament story is only the old legend +shaped anew by the wistful regrets of the early disciples. But to me it +seems that the simple comparison of the two narratives is sufficient to +bring out such fundamental difference in the ideas which they +respectively embody as amount to opposition, and make any such theory +of the origin of the latter absurdly improbable, I could wish no better +foil for the history of the Ascension than the history of Elijah's +rapture. The comparison brings out contrasts at every step, and there +is no readier way of throwing into strong relief the meaning and +purpose of the former, than holding up beside it the story of the +latter. The real parallel makes the divergences the more remarkable, +for likeness sharpens our perception of unlikeness, and no contrast is +so forcible as the contrast of things that correspond. I am much +mistaken if we shall not find almost every truth of importance +connected with our Lord's Ascension emphasised for us by the comparison +to which we now proceed. + +I. The first point which may be mentioned is the contrast between the +manner of Elijah's translation, and that of our Lord's Ascension. + +It is perhaps not without significance that the place of the one event +was on the uplands or in some of the rocky gorges beyond Jordan, and +that of the other, the slopes of Olivet above Bethany. The lonely +prophet, who had burst like a meteor on Israel from the solitudes of +Gilead, whose fervour had ever and again been rekindled by return to +the wilderness, whose whole career had isolated him from men, found the +fitting place for that last wonder amidst the stern silence where he +had so often sought asylum and inspiration. He was close to the scenes +of mighty events in the past. There, on that overhanging peak, the +lawgiver whose work he was continuing, and with whom he was to be so +strangely associated on the Mount of Transfiguration, had made himself +ready for his lonely grave. Here at his feet, the river had parted for +the victorious march of Israel. Away down on his horizon the sunshine +gleamed on the waters of the Dead Sea; and thus, on his native soil, +surrounded by memorials of the Law which he laboured to restore, and of +the victories which he would fain have brought back, and of the +judgments which he saw again impending over Israel, the stern, solitary +ascetic, the prophet of righteousness, whose single arm stayed the +downward course of a nation, passed from his toil and his warfare. + +What a different set of associations cluster round the place of +Christ's Ascension--'Bethany,' or, as it is more particularly specified +in the Acts, 'Olivet'! In the very heart of the land, close by and yet +out of sight of the great city, in no wild solitude, but perhaps in +some dimple of the hill, neither shunning nor courting spectators, with +the quiet home where He had rested so often in the little village at +their feet there, and Gethsemane a few furlongs off, in such scenes did +the Christ 'whose delights were with the sons of men,' and His life +lived in closest companionship with His brethren, choose the place +whence He should 'ascend to their Father and His Father.' Nor perhaps +was it without a meaning that the Mount which received the last print +of His ascending footstep was that which a mysterious prophecy +designated as destined to receive the first print of the footstep of +the Lord coming at a future day to end the long warfare with evil. + +But more important than the localities is the contrasted manner of the +two ascents. The prophet's end was like the man. It was fitting that he +should be swept up the skies in tempest and fire. The impetuosity of +his nature, and the stormy energy of his career, had already been +symbolised in the mighty and strong wind which rent the rocks, and in +the fire that followed the earthquake; and similarly nothing could be +more appropriate than that sudden rapture in storm and whirlwind, +escorted by the flaming chivalry of heaven. + +Nor is it only as appropriate to the character of the prophet and his +work that this tempestuous translation is noteworthy. It also suggests +very plainly that Elijah was lifted to the skies by power acting on him +from without. He did not ascend; he was carried up; the earthly frame +and the human nature had no power to rise. 'No man hath ascended into +heaven.' The two men of whom the Old Testament speaks were alike in +this, that 'God _took_ them.' The tempest and the fiery chariot +tell us how great was the exercise of divine power which bore the gross +mortality thither, and how unfamiliar was the sphere into which it +passed. + +How full of the very spirit of Christ's whole life is the contrasted +manner of His Ascension! The silent gentleness, which did not strive +nor cry nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets, marks Him even +in that hour of lofty and transcendent triumph. There is no outward +sign to accompany His slow upward movement through the quiet air. No +blaze of fiery chariots, nor agitation of tempest is needed to bear Him +heavenwards. The outstretched hands drop the dew of His benediction on +the little company, and so He floats upward, His own will and +indwelling power the royal chariot which bears Him, and calmly 'leaves +the world and goes unto the Father.' The slow, continuous movement of +ascent is emphatically made prominent in the brief narratives, both by +the phrase in Luke, 'He was carried up,' which expresses continuous +leisurely motion, and by the picture in the Acts, of the disciples +gazing into heaven 'as He went up,' in which latter word is brought +out, not only the slowness of the movement, but its origin in His own +will and its execution by His own power. + +Nor is this absence of any vehicle or external agency destroyed by the +fact that 'a cloud' received Him out of their sight, for its purpose +was not to raise Him heavenward, but to hide Him from the gazers' eyes, +that He might not seem to them to dwindle into distance, but that their +last look and memory might be of His clearly discerned and loving face. +Possibly, too, it may be intended to remind us of the cloud which +guided Israel, the glory which dwelt between the cherubim, the cloud +which overshadowed the Mount of Transfiguration, and to set forth a +symbol of the Divine Presence welcoming to itself, His battle fought, +the Son of His love. + +Be that as it may, the manner of our Lord's Ascension by His own +inherent power is brought into boldest relief when contrasted with +Elijah's rapture, and is evidently the fitting expression, as it is the +consequence, of His sole and singular divine nature. It accords with +His own mode of reference to the Ascension, while He was on earth, +which ever represents Him not as _being taken_, but as _going_: +'I leave the world and go to the Father.' 'I ascend to My Father and your +Father.' The highest hope of the devoutest souls before Him had been, 'Thou +wilt afterwards take me to glory.' The highest hope of devout souls since +Him has been, 'We shall be caught up to meet the Lord.' But this Man ever +speaks of Himself as able when He will, by His own power, to rise where no +man hath ascended. His divine nature and pre-existence shine clearly forth, +and as we stand gazing at Him blessing the world as He rises into the +heavens, we know that we are looking on no mere mysterious elevation of a +mortal to the skies, but are beholding the return of the Incarnate Lord, +who willed to tarry among our earthly tabernacles for a time, to the +glory where He was before, 'His own calm home, His habitation from +eternity.' + +II. Another striking point of contrast embraces the relation which +these two events respectively bear to the life's work which had +preceded them. + +The falling mantle of Elijah has become a symbol known to all the +world, for the transference of unfinished tasks and the appointment of +successors to departed greatness. Elisha asked that he might have a +double portion of his master's spirit, not meaning twice as much as his +master had had, but the eldest son's share of the father's possessions, +the double of the other children's portion. And, though his master had +no power to bestow the gift, and had to reply as one who has nothing +that he has not received, and cannot dispose of the grace that dwells +in him, the prayer was answered, and the feebler nature of Elisha was +fitted for the continuance of the work which Elijah left undone. + +The mantle that passed from one to the other was the symbol of office +and authority transferred; the functions were the same, whilst the +holders had changed. The sons of the prophets bow before the new +master; 'the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.' + +So the world goes on. Man after man serves his generation by the will +of God, and is gathered to his fathers; and a new arm grasps the mantle +to smite Jordan, and a new voice speaks from his empty place, and men +recognise the successor, and forget the predecessor. + +We turn to Christ's Ascension, and there we meet with nothing analogous +to this transference of office. No mantle falling from His shoulders +lights on any of that group, none are hailed as His successors. What He +has done bears and needs no repetition whilst time shall roll, whilst +eternity shall last. His work is unique: 'the help that is done on +earth, He doeth it all Himself.' His Ascension completed the witness of +heaven, begun at His resurrection, that 'He has offered one sacrifice +for sins, for ever.' He has left no unfinished work which another may +perfect. He has done no work which another may do again for new +generations. He has spoken all truth, and none may add to His words. He +has fulfilled all righteousness, and none may better His pattern. He +has borne all the world's sin, and no time can waste the power of that +sacrifice, nor any man add to its absolute sufficiency. This King of +men wears a crown to which there is no heir. This Priest has a +priesthood which passes to no other. This 'Prophet' does 'live for +ever,' The world sees all other guides and helpers pass away, and every +man's work is caught up by other hands and carried on after he drops +it, and the short memories and shorter gratitudes of men turn to the +rising sun; but one Name remains undimmed by distance, and one work +remains unapproached and unapproachable, and one Man remains whose +office none other can hold, whose bow none but He can bend, whose +mantle none can wear. Christ has ascended up on high and left a +finished work for all men to trust, for no man to continue. + +III. Whilst our Lord's Ascension is thus marked as the seal of a work +in which He has no successor, it is also emphatically set forth, by +contrast with Elijah's translation, as the transition to a continuous +energy for and in the world. + +Clearly the other narrative derives all its pathos from the thought +that Elijah's work is done. His task is over, and nothing more is to be +hoped for from him. But that same absence from the history of Christ's +Ascension, of any hint of a successor, to which we have referred in the +previous remarks, has an obvious bearing on His present relation to the +world as well as on the completeness of His unique past work. + +When Christ ascended up on high, He relinquished nothing of His +activity for us, but only cast it into a new form, which in some sense +is yet higher than that which it took on earth. His work for the world +is in one aspect completed on the Cross, but in another it will never +be completed until all the blessings which that Cross has lodged in the +midst of humanity, have reached their widest possible diffusion and +their highest possible development. Long ages ago He cried, 'It is +finished,' but we may be far yet from the time when He shall say, 'It +is done'; and for all the slow years between His own word gives us the +law of His activity, 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.' + +Christ's Ascension is no withdrawal of the Captain of our salvation +from the field where we are left to fight, nor has He gone up to the +mountain, leaving us alone to tug at the oar, and shiver in the cold +night air. True, there may seem a strange contrast between the present +condition of the Lord who 'was received up into heaven, and sitteth on +the right hand of God,' and that of the servants wandering through the +world on _His_ business; but the contrast is harmonised by the +next words, 'the Lord also working with them.' Yes, He has gone up to +sit at the right hand of God. That session at God's right hand to which +the Ascension is chiefly of importance as the transition, means the +repose of a perfected redemption, the communion of the Son with the +Father, the exercise of all the omnipotence of God, the administration +of the world's history. He has ascended that He might fill all things, +that He might pour out His Spirit upon us, that the path to God may be +trodden by our lame feet, that the whole resources of the divine nature +may be wielded by the hands that were nailed to the Cross, that the +mighty purpose of salvation may be fulfilled. + +Elijah knew not whether his spirit could descend upon his follower. But +Christ, though, as we have said, He left no legacy of falling mantle to +any, left His Spirit to His people. What Elisha gained, Elijah lost. +What Elisha desired, Elijah could not give nor guarantee. How firm and +assured beside Elijah's dubious 'Thou hast asked a hard thing,' and his +'If thou see me, it shall be so,' is Christ's 'It is expedient for you +that I go away. For if I go not away the Comforter will not come, but +if I depart, I will send Him unto you.' + +Manifold are the forms of that new and continuous activity of Christ +into which He passed when He left the earth: and as we contrast these +with the utter helplessness any longer to counsel, rebuke or save, to +which death reduces those who love us best, and to which even his +glorious rapture into the heavens brought the strong prophet of fire, +we can take up, with a new depth of meaning, the ancient words that +tell of Christ's exclusive prerogative of succouring and inspiring from +within the veil: 'Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast led captivity +captive; Thou hast received gifts for men.' + +IV. The Ascension of Christ is still further set forth, in its very +circumstances, by contrast with Elijah's translation, as bearing on the +hopes of humanity for the future. + +The prophet is caught up to the glory and repose for himself alone, and +the sole share which the gazing follower or the sons of the prophets +straining their eyes there at Jericho, had in his triumph, was a +deepened conviction of his prophetic mission, and perhaps some clearer +faith in a future life. Their wonder and sorrow, Elisha's immediate +exercise of his new power, the prophets' immediate transference of +their allegiance to their new head, show that on both sides it was felt +that they had no part in the event beyond that of awe-struck beholders. +No light streamed from it on their own future. The path they had to +tread was still the common road into the great darkness, as solitary +and unknown as before. The chariot of fire parted their master from the +common experience of humanity as from their fellowship, making him an +exception to the sad rule of death, which frowned the grimmer and more +inexorable by contrast with his radiant translation. + +The very reverse is true of Christ's Ascension. In Him our nature is +taken up to the throne of God. His Resurrection assures us that 'them +which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him,' His passage to the +heavens assures us that 'they who are alive and remain shall be caught +up together with them,' and that all of both companies shall with Him +live and reign, sharing His dominion, and moulded to His image. + +If we would know of what our manhood is capable, if we would rise to +the height of the hopes which God means that we should cherish, if we +would gain a living grasp of the power that fulfils them, we have to +stand there, gazing on the piled cloud that sails slowly upwards, the +pure floor for our Brother's feet. As we watch it rising with a motion +which is rest, we have the right to think, 'Thither the Forerunner is +for us entered.' We see there what man is meant for, what men who love +Him attain. True, the world is still full of death and sorrow, man's +dominion seems a futile dream and a hope that mocks, but 'we see +Jesus,' ascended up on high, and in Him we too are 'made to sit +together in heavenly places.' The Breaker is gone up before them. Their +King shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.' + +There is yet another aspect in which our Lord's Ascension bears on our +hopes for the future, namely, as connected with His coming again. In +that respect, too, the contrast of Elijah's translation may serve to +emphasise the truth. Prophecy, indeed, in its latest voice, spoke of +sending Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord, +and Rabbinical legends delighted to tell how he had been carried to the +Garden of Eden, whence he would come again, in Israel's sorest need. +But the prophecy had no thought of a personal reappearance, and the +dreams are only dreams such as we find in the legendary history of many +nations. As Elisha recrossed the Jordan, he bore with him only a mantle +and a memory, not a hope. + +'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same +Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like +manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' How grand is the use in +these mighty words of the name Jesus, the name that speaks of His true +humanity, with all its weakness, limitations, and sorrow, with all its +tenderness and brotherhood! The man who died and rose again, has gone +up on high. He will so come as He has gone. 'So'--that is to say, +personally, corporeally, visibly, on clouds, perhaps to that very spot, +'and His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.' Thus +Scripture teaches us ever to associate together the departure and the +coming of the Lord, and always when we meditate on His Ascension to +prepare a place for us, to think of His real presence with us through +the ages, and of His coming again to receive us to Himself. + +That parting on Olivet cannot be the end. Such a leave-taking is the +prophecy of happy greetings and an inseparable reunion. The King has +gone to receive a kingdom, and to return. Memory and hope coalesce, as +we think of Him who is passed into the heavens, and the heart of the +Church has to cherish at once the glad thought that its Head and helper +has entered within the veil, and the still more joyous one, which +lightens the days of separation and widowhood, that the Lord will come +again. + +So let us take our share in the 'great joy' with which the disciples +returned to Jerusalem, left like sheep in the midst of wolves as they +were, and 'let us set our affection on things above, where Christ is, +sitting at the right hand of God.' + + + + +ELIJAH'S TRANSLATION AND ELISHA'S DEATHBED + +And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of +Israel, and the horsemen thereof.'--2 KINGS ii. 12. + +'...And Joash, the King of Israel, came down unto him, and wept over +his face, and said. O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and +the horsemen thereof.'--2 KINGS xiii. U. + + +The scenes and the speakers are strangely different in these two +incidents. The one scene is that mysterious translation on the further +bank of the Jordan, when a mortal was swept up to heaven in a fiery +whirlwind, and the other is an ordinary sick chamber, where an old man +was lying, with the life slowly ebbing out of him. The one speaker is +the successor of the great prophet, on whom his spirit in a large +measure fell; the other, an idolatrous king, young, headstrong, who had +despised the latter prophet's teaching while he lived, but was now for +the moment awed into something like seriousness and reverence by his +death. + +Now the remarkable thing is that this unworthy monarch should have come +to the dying prophet, and should have strengthened and cheered him by +the quotation of his own words, spoken so long ago, as if he would say +to him, 'All that thou didst mean when thou didst stand there in +rapturous adoration, watching the ascending Elijah, is as true about +thee, lying dying here, of a common and lingering sickness. My father, +my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.' Seen or +unseen, these were present. The reality was the same, though the +appearances were so different. + +I We have in the first case the chariot and horsemen seen. + +To feel the force of the exclamation on the lips of Joash, we must try +to make clear to ourselves what its original meaning was. What did +Elisha intend when he stood beyond Jordan, and in wonder and awe +exclaimed, 'The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof'? + +It does not seem to me that the interpretation of the words now in +favour is at all satisfactory. It tells us that the expression is to he +taken as in apposition with the exclamation 'My father, my father'; and +that both the one phrase and the other mean--Elijah! Yet what a +preposterous and strange metaphor it would be to call a man a chariot +and pair, or a chariot and cavalry! It seems to me that the very +statement of this explanation, in plain English, condemns it as +untenable. It is surely less probable that Elisha in that exclamation +was describing Elijah than that he was speaking of that wondrous +chariot of fire and horses of fire that had come between him and his +master, and that his exclamation was one of surprised adoration as he +gazed with wide-opened eyes on the burning angel-hosts, and saw his +master mysteriously able to bear that fire, ringed round by these +flaming squadrons, possibly standing unscathed on the floor of the +chariot, and swept with it and all the celestial pomp, by the +whirlwind, into heaven. + +But why should he say 'the chariot of _Israel_'? I think we take +for granted too readily that 'Israel' here means the nation. You will +remember that that name was not originally that of the nation, but of +its progenitor and founder, given to Jacob as the consequence and +record of that mysterious wrestling by the brook. And I think we get a +nobler signification for the words before us if, instead of applying +the name to the nation, we apply it here to the individual. When Elijah +and Elisha crossed Jordan they were not far from the spot where that +name was given to Jacob, 'the supplanter,' whom discipline and +communion with God had elevated into Israel. And they were near another +of the sites consecrated by his history, the place where, just before +the change of his name, the angels of God met him and 'he called the +name of the place Mahanaim.' That means '_the two camps_,' the +one, Jacob's defenceless company of women and children, the other, +their celestial guards. + +It seems reasonable to suppose that, in all probability, a reminiscence +of that old story of the manifestation of the armed angels of God as +the defenders and servants of His children broke from Elisha's lips. As +he looks upon that strange appearance of the chariot and horses of fire +that parted him and his friend, he sees once more 'the chariot of +Israel and the horsemen thereof,' the reappearance of the shining +armies whose presence had of old declared that 'the angel of the Lord +encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.' And now +the same hosts in their immortal youth, unweakened by the ages which +have brought earthly warriors to dust and their swords to rust, are +flaming and flashing there in the midday sun. What was their errand, +and why did they appear? They came, as God's messengers, to bear His +servant to His presence. They attested the commission and devotion of +the prophet. Their agency was needful to lift a mortal to skies not +native to him. Strange that a body of flesh should he able to endure +that fiery splendour! Somewhere in the course of that upward movement +must this man, who was caught up to meet the Lord in the air, have been +'changed.' His guards of honour were not only for tokens of his +prophetic work, but for witnesses of the unseen world and in some sort +pledges, suited to that stage of revelation, of life and immortality. + +How striking is the contrast between the translation of Elijah and the +Ascension of Christ! He who ascended up where He was before needed no +whirlwind, nor chariot of fire, nor extraneous power to elevate Him to +His home. Calmly, slowly, as borne upwards by indwelling affinity with +heaven, He floated thither with outstretched hands of blessing. The +servant angels did not need to surround Him, but, clad no longer in +fiery armour, but 'in white apparel,' the emblem of purity and peace, +they stood by the disciples and comforted them with hope. Elijah was +carried to heaven. Christ went. The angels disappeared with the prophet +and left Elisha to grieve alone. They lingered here after Christ had +gone, and turned tears into rainbows flashing with the hues of hope. + +II. We have in our second text the chariot and horsemen present though +unseen. + +We are now in a position to appreciate the meaning of Joash's +repetition to Elisha of his own words, spoken under such different +circumstances. + +Elisha was by no means so great a prophet as Elijah. His work had not +been so conspicuous, his character was not so strong, though perhaps +more gentle. No such lofty and large influence had been granted to him +as had been given to the fiery Tishbite to wield, nor did he leave his +mark so deep upon the history of the times or upon the memory of +succeeding generations. But such as it had been given him to be he had +been. He was a continuer, not an originator. There had been a long +period during which he appears to have lived in absolute retirement, +exercising no prophetic functions. We never hear of him during the +interval between the anointing of Jehu to the Israelitish monarchy and +the time of his own death, and that period must have extended over +nearly fifty years. After all these years of eclipse and seclusion he +was lying dying somewhere in a corner, and the king, young but +impressible, although, on the whole, not reliable nor good, came down +to the prophet's home, and there, standing by the pallet of the dying +man, repeated the words, so strangely reminiscent of a very different +event--' My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen +thereof!' + +And what does that exclamation mean? Two things. One is this, that the +angels of the Divine Presence are with us as truly, in life, when +unseen as if seen. So far as we know, it was only to Elisha that the +vision had been granted of that chariot of fire and horses of fire. We +read that at Elijah's translation on the other side of Jordan, and +consequently at no great distance off, there stood a company of the +sons of the prophets from Jericho to see what would happen, but we do +not read that they did see. On the contrary, they were inclined to +believe that Elijah had been caught up and flung away somewhere on the +mountains, and that it was worth while to organise search-parties to go +after him. It was only Elisha that saw, and Elijah did not know whether +he would see or not, for he said to him, 'If thou shalt see me when I +am taken from thee, then' thy desire shall be granted. + +The angels of God are visible to the eyes that are fit to see them; and +those eyes can always see them. It does not matter whether in a miracle +or in a common event--it does not matter whether on the stones by the +banks of Jordan or in a close sick chamber, they are visible for those +who, by pure hearts and holy desires, have had their vision purged from +the intrusive vulgarities and dazzling brightnesses of this poor, petty +present, and can therefore see beneath all the apparent the real that +blazes behind it. + +The scenes at Jordan and in the death-chamber are not the only times in +Elisha's life when we read of these chariots and horses of fire. There +was another incident in his career in which the same phrase occurs. +Once his servant was terrified at the sight of a host compassing the +little city where Elisha and he were, with horses and chariots, and +came to his master with alarm and despair, crying, 'Alas! my master, +how shall we do?' The prophet answered with superb calmness, 'Fear not: +for they that be with us are more than they that be with them .... Lord, +I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the +eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full +of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.' They had always +been there, though no one saw them. They were there when no one but +Elisha saw them. They were no more there when the young man saw them +than they had been before. They did not cease to be there when the film +came over his eyes again, and the common round took him back to the +trivialities of daily life. + +And so from the mouth of this not very devout king the prophet was +reminded of his own ancient experiences, and invited to feel that, +unseen or seen, the solemn forms stood 'bright-harnessed,' and strong, +'in order serviceable,' ranged about him for his defence and blessing. + +And are they not round about us? If a man can but look into the +realities of things, will he see only the work of men and of the forces +of nature? Will there not be--far more visible as they are far more +real than any of these--the forces of the Eternal Presence and ever +operative Will of our Father in Heaven? We need not discuss the +personality of angels. An angel is the embodiment of the will and +energy of God, and we have that will and energy working for us, whether +there are any angel persons about us or not. Scripture declares that +there are, and that they serve us. We may be sure that if only we will +honestly try to purge our eyes from the illusions and temptations of +'things seen and temporal,' the mountain or the sick chamber will be to +us equally full of the angel forms of our defenders and companions. + +Do we see them for ourselves; and, not less important, do we, like +Elisha, lying there on his deathbed, help else blind men to see them, +and make every one that comes beside us, even if he be as little +impressible and as little devout as this king Joash was, recognise that +in our chambers there sit, and round our lives there flutter and sing, +sweet and strong angel wings and voices? Will anybody, looking at you, +be constrained to feel that with and around you are the angels of God? + +Still further, another cognate application of these great words is that +one which is more directly suggested by their quotation by Joash. It +does not matter in what way the end of life comes. The reality is the +same to all devout men; though one be swept to heaven in a whirlwind, +and another lady slowly away in old age, or 'fall sick of the sickness +wherewith he should die.' Each is taken to God in a chariot of fire. +The means are of little moment, the fact remains the same, however +diverse may he the methods of its accomplishment. The road is the same, +the companions the same, the impelling--I was going to say the +locomotive--power, is the same, and the goal is the same. + +Of Enoch we read, 'He was not, for God took him.' Of Elijah we read, +'He went up in a whirlwind to heaven.' Of Elisha we read, 'He died and +they buried him.' And of all three--the two who were translated that +they should not see death, and the one who died like the rest of us--it +is equally true that 'God took' them, and that they were taken to Him. +So for ourselves and for our dear ones we may look forward or backward, +to deathbeds of weariness, of lingering sickness, of long pain and +suffering, or of swift dissolution, and piercing beneath the surface +may see the blessed central reality and thankfully feel that Death, +too, is God's angel, who' does His commandments, hearkening to the +voice of God's word' when in his dark hearse he carries us hence. + + + + +GENTLENESS SUCCEEDING STRENGTH + +'He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went +back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14. And he took the mantle of +Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the +Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they +parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. 15. And when the sons +of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The +spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and +bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16. And they said unto him, +Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, +we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the +Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some +valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17. And when they urged him +till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and +they sought three days, but found him not. 18. And when they came again +to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say +unto you, Go not! 19. And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, +I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: +but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 20. And he said, Bring +me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21. +And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in +there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there +shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. 22. So the +waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha +which he spake.'--2 KINGS ii. 13-22. + + +The independent activity of Elisha begins with verse 13. How short the +gap between the two prophets, and how easily filled it is! Not the +greatest are indispensable. God lays aside one tool, but only to take +up another. He has inexhaustible stores. The work goes on, though the +workers change, and there is little time for mere mourning, and none +for idle sorrow. Elisha's first miracle is almost an experiment. The +mantle which lay at his feet had been thrown over him by Elijah when he +was called to his service, and it was now a token that office and power +had devolved on him. His first steps tread closely in Elijah's track; +as those of wise and humble men, called to higher work, will mostly do. +The repetition of the miracle by the same means, and the invocation of +the Lord as the 'God of Elijah,'--a new name, to be set by the side of +'the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob'--express the humility which +seeks to shelter itself behind the example of its mighty predecessor. +The form of the invocation as a question indicates that Elisha had not +yet attained certainty as to his power, as not yet having proved it. +'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?' is not the question of unbelief, but +neither is it the voice of full confidence, which asks no such +question, because it knows Him to be with it. It is the cry, 'Oh that +Thou mayest be here, even with unworthy me! and art Thou not here?' The +faith was real, though young, and clouded with some film of doubt. But, +being real, it was answered; and it was because of Elisha's trust, not +Elijah's mantle, that the waters parted. God will listen to a man +pleading that ancient deeds may be repeated to-day, and, by answering +the cry addressed to Him as the God of saints and martyrs of old, will +embolden us to cry to Him as our very own God. We may learn from that +first half-tentative miracle the spirit in which men should take up the +work of those that are gone, the lowliness fitting for beginners, the +wisdom of seeking to graft new work on the old stock, the encouragement +from remembering the divine wonders through His servants in the past, +and the true way to assure ourselves of our God-given power; namely, by +attempting great things for Him, in dependence on His promise. + +The miracle was wrought partly for Elisha, and partly for others who +were to acknowledge his authority. These sons of the prophets, who +stood on the eastern bank of Jordan, had probably not been witnesses of +the translation, even if their position commanded a view of the spot. +Purer eyes and more kindred spirits than theirs were needed for that. + +But they saw Elisha returning alone, and the waters parting before him, +and, no doubt, as he came nearer, would recognise what he bore in his +hand--Elijah's well-known mantle. They hasten to recognise him as the +head of the prophets, and their acknowledgment accurately expresses his +place and work. Elijah's spirit rests on him, even though the two men +and their careers are very different, and in some respects opposite. +Elisha is distinctly secondary to Elijah. He is in no sense an +originator, either of fresh revelations or of new impulses to +obedience. He but carries on what Elijah had begun, inherits a work, +and is Elijah's 'Timothy' and 'son in the faith.' The same Spirit was +on him, though the form of his character and gifts was in strong +contrast to the stormier genius of his mightier predecessor. Elisha had +no such work as Elijah--no foot-to-foot and hand-to-hand duels with +murderous kings or queens; no single-handed efforts to stop a nation +from rushing down a steep place into the sea; no fiery energy; no +bursts of despair. He moved among kings and courts as an honoured guest +and trusted counsellor. He did not dwell apart, like Elijah, the strong +son of the desert; but, born in the fertile valley of the Jordan, he +lived a life 'kindly with his kind,' and his delights were with the +sons of men. His miracles are mostly works of mercy and gentleness, +relieving wants and sicknesses, drying tears and giving back dear ones +to mourners. He is as complete a contrast to his stern, solitary, +forceful predecessor, as the 'still small voice' was to the roar of the +wind or the crackling hiss of the flames. + +But, nevertheless, 'there are diversities of operations, but the same +God.' It is well to remember that one type of excellence does not +exhaust the possibilities of goodness, nor the resources of the +inspiring Spirit. The comparative merits of strength and gentleness +will always be variously estimated; but God's work needs them both, and +both may join hands as serving the same Lord in diverse ways, which are +all needed. We should seek to widen our discernment to the extent of +the rich variety of forms of good and of service which God gives. +Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy, Luther and Melanchthon, are all +His servants. Well is it when the strong can recognise the power of the +gentle, and the gentle can discern the tenderness of the strong, and +when each is forward to say of the other, 'He worketh the work of the +Lord, as I also do.' + +The search after Elijah, insisted on by the sons of the prophets, is of +importance only as showing their low thoughts and Elisha's gentle +spirit. He is their head, but he holds the reins loosely. Fancy anybody +'urging' Elijah 'till he was ashamed'! The shame would very soon have +mantled the cheek of the urger. But though, no doubt, Elisha would tell +what had happened, these 'prophets' only think that Elijah has been +miraculously borne somewhither, as he had been before, and seem to have +no notion of what has really happened. How hard it is to heave heavy +men up to any height of spiritual vision! How vulgar minds always take +refuge in the most commonplace explanations that they can find of high +truths! 'Gone up to heaven! Not he! He is lying, living or dead, in +some gorge or on some hillside. Let us go and look for him!' There is +nothing on which some people pride themselves more than upon being +practical--which generally means prosaic, and often means blind to +God's greatest deeds. To go scouring wady and mountain for a man who +had been taken up into heaven was practical common sense indeed! But +Elisha's gentleness is to be noted. He let them have their own way. +Often that is the only plan for convincing people of their errors. And, +when the fifty scouts come back empty-handed, all he says is a quiet +'Did I no say unto you, Go not?' 'The servant of the Lord must not +strive,' but 'in meekness' instruct 'those that oppose themselves'; and +the effectual instruction is often to let them take their own course. + +The miracle of healing the waters is of the beneficent kind usual with +Elisha, inaugurates his course with blessing, and typifies the healing +power which God through him would exert on men. Jericho had been +recently rebuilt in spite of the curse against its builders. The +bitterness of the spring seems to have been part of the malediction; +for men would not be so foolish as to rebuild a city which had only +impure water to depend on. However that may be, the main lesson of the +miracle, beyond its revelation of the spirit of gentle compassion in +Elisha, is the symbolical one. The new cruse and the salt are emblems +of the divine gift which cleanses the human heart. Salt is an emblem of +purification, and its emblematic meaning prevails here over its natural +properties; for the last thing to cure a brackish spring was to put +salt into it. The very inadequacy, as well as inappropriateness, of the +remedy, points the miraculous and symbolical character of the whole. A +jar full of salt could do little to a gushing fountain. But it figured +the cleansing power which God will bring to bear on us, if we will; and +it taught the great truth that sin must be cleansed at the fountain- +head in the heart, not half a mile down the stream, in the deeds. Put +the salt in the spring, and the outflow will be sweet. + + + + +WHEN THE OIL FLOWS + +'And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto +her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a +vessel more. And the oil stayed.'--2 KINGS iv. 6. + + +The series of miracles ascribed to Elisha are very unlike most of the +wonderful works of even the Old Testament, and still more unlike those +of the New. For about a great many of them there seems to have been no +special purpose, either doctrinal or otherwise, but simply the relief +of trivial and transient distresses. This story, from which my text is +taken, is one of that sort. One of the sons of the prophets had died in +Shunem. He left a widow and two little children. The creditor, +according to the Mosaic law, had the right, which he was about to put +in practice, of taking the children to be bondmen. And so the +penniless, helpless woman comes to Elisha, as a kind of deliverer- +general from all sorts of distresses, and tells him her pitiful tale. +He asks her what she wants him to do, and she has no counsel to give. +Then the thing to do strikes _him._ He asks what she has in the +house. It was a poor, bare hovel of a place. There was not anything in +it save a pot of oil, which was all her property. He sends her to +borrow vessels, of all sorts and sizes. He takes the pot of oil, and +shuts the door. Then she sets the two boys fetching and carrying; and +herself taking up the one possession that she has, in faith she pours; +and dish after dish is filled, and still she pours; and they were all +filled, and she kept on pouring. Then she said, 'Bring some more'; and +the boys answered, 'There are not any more,' so then the oil stopped. + +There was no very special reason for all this. It is not at all like +most Biblical miracles. I do not suppose it had any symbolical +intention; but I venture to do a little gentle violence to the +incident, and to see in the staying of the oil when no more vessels +were brought to be filled, a lesson addressed to us all, and it is +this: God keeps giving Himself as long as we bring that into which He +can pour Himself. And when we stop bringing, He stops giving. + +Now, if I may venture to be fanciful for once, let me tell you of three +vessels that we have to bring if we would have the oil of the Divine +Spirit poured into us. + +I. The vessel of desire. + +God can give us a great many things that we do not wish, but He cannot +give us His best gift, and that is Himself, unless we desire it. He +never forces His company on any man, and if we do not wish for Him He +cannot give us Himself, His Spirit, or the gifts of His Spirit. For +instance, He cannot make a man wise if he does not wish to be +instructed. He cannot make a man holy if he has no aspiration after +holiness. He cannot save a man from his sins if the man holds on to his +sin with both hands, like some shellfish with its claws when you try to +drag it out of its cleft in the rock. He cannot give the oil unless we +bring the vessels of our hearts opened by our desires. + +If God could He would. 'Ye have not because ye ask not.' But we are +never to forget that God is not led to begin His giving because we +petition Him, but that the infinitude of His stores, and the endless, +changeless, unmotived, perfect love of His heart, make self- +communication--I was going to use a very strong word, and I do not know +that it is too strong--necessary to the blessedness of the blessed God, +and, long before we ever thought of Him, or sought anything from Him, +there was pouring out from Him all the fulness of His love: just as we +may conceive of the sunshine raying out before the orbs that were to +circle round it had been completely shaped, but were still diffused and +nebulous. + +But, while God is always giving, our capacity to receive determines the +degree of our individual possession of Him. Or, to put it in the +plainest words--we have as much of God as we can take in; and the +principal factor in settling how much we can take is--how much we wish. +Measure the reality and intensity of desire, and you measure capacity. +As the atmosphere rushes into every vacuum, or as the sea runs up into +and fills every sinuosity of the shore, so wherever a heart opens, and +the unbroken coast-line is indented, as it were, by desire, in rushes +the tide of the divine gifts. You have God in the measure in which you +desire Him. + +Only remember that that desire which brings God must be more than a +feeble, fleeting wish. Wishing is one thing; _willing_ is quite +another. Lazily wishing and strenuously desiring are two entirely +different postures of mind; the former gets nothing and the latter gets +everything, gets God, and with God all that God can bring. + +But the wish must not only rise to intensity and earnestness, but it +must be steadfast. Suppose these two little boys of the widow had held +their vessels below the spout of the oil-pot with tremulous hands, +while they looked away at something else, sometimes keeping the vessels +right under, and sometimes shifting them on one side, it would have +been slow work filling the unsteadily held vessels. So it is in regard +to receiving God's best gift. Our desires must be unwavering. A cup +held by a shaking hand will spill its contents, or will never receive +them. 'Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the +Lord.' The steadfast wish is the wish that is answered. + +Is it not a strange indifference to our true good that we who have +learned, as most of us have learned only too well, that in this world +to wish is not to have, should turn away from the possibility that lies +before us each, of passing from this disappointing world of vain +longings into a region where we cannot wish anything that we do not +get? There is only one thing about which it is true that, if you want, +and as much as you want, you will have; and that thing is found when we +turn away our wishes from the false, fleeting, and surface +satisfactions of earth, and fasten them upon God, 'Who is able to do +exceeding abundantly above all that we ... think.' Wish for Him, and +you have what you have wished. Wish for anything else, and you may have +it or you may not, but depend upon it the fish is never half as big +when it is out of the water as it felt to be when it was tugging at the +hook. + +II. Another vessel that we have to bring is the vessel of our +expectancy. + +Desire is one thing; confident anticipation that the desire will be +fulfilled is quite another. And the two do not certainly go together +anywhere except in this one region, and there they do go, linked arm in +arm. For whatsoever, in the highest of all regions, we wish, we have +the right without presumption to believe that we shall receive. +Expectation, like desire, opens the heart. + +There are some expectations, even in lower regions, that fulfil +themselves. Doctors will tell you that a very large part of the +curative power of their medicine depends upon the patient's +anticipation of recovery. If a man expects to die when he takes to his +bed, the chances are that he will die; and if a man expects to get +better, Death will have a fight before it conquers him. There are +hundreds of cases, in all departments of life, where he who sets +himself to a task with assured persuasion that he is going to do such +and such a thing will do it. 'Screw your courage to the sticking-place, +and we'll not fail,' said the heroine in the tragedy; and there is a +great truth in her fierce encouragement. + +All these illustrations fall far beneath the Christian aspect of the +thought that what we expect from God we receive. That is only another +way of putting 'According to thy faith be it unto thee.' It is exactly +what Jesus Christ said when He promised, 'Whatsoever things ye ask when +ye stand praying believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.' + +I am afraid that a great many of us often have expectations fainter +than desires; and that we should be very much surprised if the thing +that we ask for, in the prayers that we so often repeat by rote, were +granted to us. You will hear men praying for holiness, for clean +hearts, for progress in the Christian life, for a hundred other such +blessings. They do not expect that anything is going to come in +consequence, and they would be mightily at a loss what to do with the +gift if it did come. The absence of expectancy in our public petitions +is to me one of the saddest features in the Christian life of this day. +If you expect little, you will get little; and we do expect far less +than we ought. We cannot raise our confident expectations too high; for +'He is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask' as +well as 'think.' The Apostle has set the limit of our expectations, in +the same context, and here it is: 'That we may be filled with all the +fulness of God.' There are two limits: one is the boundless +illimitableness of God's perfection, and the possibilities of our +possession of Him are not exhausted until we have reached that infinite +completeness. But then, there is a practical, working limit for each of +us; and that is--what do you desire? and what do you expect? God can +give more than we can ask or think, but He cannot at the moment give +more than we expect or desire. + +True, the vessels that we bring to be filled with the oil are not like +the vessels that the fatherless boys brought. These were of a definite +capacity; and the little cup when it was filled was filled, and there +was an end of it. But the vessels that we bring are elastic, and widen +out. The more that is put into them the more they can hold, so that +there is no bound to the capacity of a heart for the reception and +inrush of God; and there will not be a bound through all the ages of a +growing possession of Him in eternity. But for to-day, desire and +expectancy determine the measure of the gift. + +III. Lastly, one more vessel that we have to bring is obedience. + +'If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.' +_There_ is one case of the general principle that wishes and +anticipations are all right and well, but unless they are backed up and +verified by conduct, even wishes and anticipations will not bring God's +gift. For it is possible for a man who, in his better moments of +devotion, has some desires after a loftier range of goodness and a +completer conformity to God than he ordinarily has, to rise from his +knees and rush into the world, and there live in some lust, or +uncleanness, or vice, or indulgence, or absorption in the cares of this +life, in such a way as that desires and anticipations shall vanish. If +we fill our vessels full, before we take them to the source of supply, +with all manner of baser liquids, there will be no room for the oil. We +may contradict and stifle our desires by our conduct, and by it make +our expectations perfectly impossible to be fulfilled. Are our daily +doings of such a nature as that the Spirit of God, which is symbolised +by the oil, can come into our hearts; or are we quenching and grieving +Him so that He + + 'Can but listen at the gate + And hear the household jar within'? + +Desire, Expectancy, and Obedience--these three must never be separated +if we are to receive the gift of Himself, which God delights and waits +to give. All spiritual possessions and powers grow by use, even as +exercised muscles are strengthened, and unused ones tend to be +atrophied. It is possible, by neglect of God and of the gift given to +us, to incur the stern sentence passed on the slothful servant--'Take +it from him.' By disobedience and negligence we choke the channel +through which God's gifts can flow to us. So, brethren, bring these +three vessels, and you will not go away with them empty. 'Open thy +mouth wide, and I will fill it.' + + + + +A MIRACLE NEEDING EFFORT + +'So she went, and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came +to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi +his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: 26. Run now, I pray +thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well +with thy husband! is it well with the child? And she answered, It is +well. 27. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught +him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man +of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the +Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28. Then she said, Did +I desire a son of my lord! did I not say, Do not deceive met 29. Then +he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, +and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute +thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the +child. 30. And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as +thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. +31. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face +of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he +went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. +32. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was +dead, and laid upon his bed. 33. He went in therefore, and shut the +door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. 34. And he went up, and +lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon +his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the +child: and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35. Then he returned, and +walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon +him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. +36. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called +her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37. +Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the +ground, and took up her son, and went out.'--2 KINGS iv. 25-37. + + +The story of Elisha is almost entirely a record of his miracles, and +the story of his miracles is almost entirely a record of deeds of +beneficence. Exception has been taken to it on the ground of the +strange accumulation of supernatural works, which have been said to +make it like some mediaeval saint's legend. But why should it not be +true that, after Elijah had proclaimed the truth, his successor's +function was to enforce it chiefly by his acts, and to seek to draw +Israel back to God by 'the cords of love' and the gentle compulsion of +mercies? The careful consideration of the work of the two prophets +makes the peculiarities of Elisha's perfectly intelligible. This story +of the great lady at Shunem, her joy over her only child and his +piteous death 'on her knees,' is one of the tenderest and sweetest +pages in the history. Late won and early lost, the poor boy lies pale +and dead on Elisha's bed at Shunem, while the mother hurries across the +plain of Jezreel to Carmel,--a distance of some fifteen or sixteen +miles,--where Elisha was then living, probably near the place of +Elijah's sacrifice. This passage begins with her approach. + +I. Note first the meeting (verses 25-28). Somewhere on the slopes of +Carmel, commanding a view of the plain stretching away in the blue +distance eastward, sat the prophet. His eye was keen, though probably +he was now old, and he recognised the lady at a distance, as she rode +swiftly towards the mountain. He appears to have suspected that this +unusual visit meant some calamity, and his gentle heart went out +towards his hostess and friend. Gehazi could not get back sooner than +she could come, but sympathy could not sit passive and watch her +approach. So the instinctively despatched message beautifully witnesses +the prophet's keen affection, and, as it were, the eager leap of his +sympathy. So swift and ready to flash into act is the fellow-feeling of +the Highest with the sorrows of us all; so should be the compassion of +each with another. The higher in gifts or office in the kingdom a man +is, the more is he bound to carry his sympathy in an outstretched hand. +It is worth very little when it comes slowly. It is priceless when it +runs to meet the mourner before she speaks. + +The detailed question put into Gehazi's mouth describes the circle +within which this woman's heart moved,--her husband, her child, +herself. If these were well, nothing could be very ill; if ill, nothing +could be well. But the message, which came so warm from Elisha's lips, +had been cooled on the road, and sounded formal from Gehazi. It is hard +for selfish indifference to carry tender words without freezing them. +The bearer of sympathy must be sympathetic. As Gehazi spoiled Elisha's +message, so we Christians too often do our Master's, and cool it down +to our own temperature. The fact that Gehazi had done so is suggested +by the curt answer, 'Peace!' It is often quoted as the language of +resignation, but it seems much rather to be evasion of the question, +and that because her sorrow shrank from unveiling itself to the +questioner. Nothing makes grief dumb so surely as prying and yet +indifferent intrusion. A tenderer hand than Gehazi's is needed to +unlock the sad secret of that burdened breast. + +It was perhaps partly pique at her silencing him, and partly mere +unfeeling attention to 'propriety,' which made the servant wish to +check the convulsive grasp of the feet, which the master allowed. +Underlings are more careful of what they suppose to be their superior's +dignity than he is. Much is permitted to love and sorrow, by a prophet, +which would be repressed by smaller men. 'Her soul is bitter within +her' pardons much, and only unfeeling critics will be punctilious in +dealing with even the extravagances of grief. But Elisha had another +reason than pity. He wished to know her pain, and therefore he let her +cling to his feet; for only there would she find her tongue. Does there +not shine through the figure of the gentle prophet the image of the +gentler Christ, who will not have the poorest and foulest spurned from +His feet, though it be 'a woman who was a sinner,' and lets us come as +close to Him as we will, even to hide our faces on His breast, that we +may pour out all our sorrows and sins to Him? + +The limitations of the prophet's knowledge he frankly owns. How much +better would it have been for the Church if its teachers had been more +willing to copy his modesty, and said about a great many things, 'The +Lord hath hid it from me'! + +The mother's answer is indeed the cry of a 'bitter' heart. Its abrupt +questions and its reticence as to the child's death are pathetically +true to nature, and sound yet across all these centuries as if the +bitter cry were for a grief of to-day. 'Did I desire a son?' She +upbraids Elisha and Elisha's God for having forced on her an unasked +blessing. 'Did I not say, Do not deceive me?' She did (verse 16); and +she upbraids Elisha again for a worse deceit than she had meant then, +by mocking her with a gift which was wrenched from her hands so +suddenly and soon. How many a sad heart is to-day tempted to raise this +cry of anguish! And how patient is Elisha with wild words, and how he +discerns, beneath the apparent rough reproach, the misery which it +implies and the petition which it veils! Elisha's Lord is no less +tender in His judgment of our hasty, whirlwind words, when our hearts +are sore; and if only we speak them to Him and cling to His feet, He +translates them into the petitions which they mean, and is swift to +answer the meaning and pass by the sound of our bitter cry. + +II. We note the ineffectual experiment of the staff (verses 29-31). The +supposition that Gehazi was sent in such haste with the hope that the +touch of the staff might bring back life, is dismissed as 'impossible' +by most commentators, who have therefore some difficulty in saying what +he was sent for. Some of the Rabbis answered, 'To prevent +putrefaction,' which would set in soon on that harvest day. Others say +that the intention was to 'prevent more life escaping from him.' But +'dead' is not usually supposed to be an adjective admitting of +comparison. Others find the reason in the wish to deliver Israel from +the superstitious veneration of such things as the staff, by showing +that it was powerless. But verse 31 plainly implies that the result of +Gehazi's attempt was not what had been expected. Why need there be any +hesitation in taking the natural meaning, and supposing that Elisha +sent his servant quickly, 'if peradventure' the touch of his staff +might suffice, and followed in person, because he did not know whether +it would. There is nothing unworthy of a prophet who had just confessed +his ignorance in the supposition. His unobtrusive spirit delighted to +hide its power behind material vehicles, as is seen in most of his +miracles; and, if he remembered how he himself, in his early days, had +parted the waters with his master's cloak, he might think it possible +that his servant should work a miracle with his staff. + +The Shunemite quotes his own words on that far-off day; and perhaps she +was reminded of them by perceiving the analogy of the two incidents. +But her clinging to Elisha shows her doubt of the success of the +attempt; and she was right. Why did the staff fail? Perhaps because of +its bearer. Gehazi always appears unfavourably, and Elisha's staff +loses its power in such hands. The mightiest instruments are weak when +selfishness and coldness wield them. An unworthy minister can make the +Gospel itself impotent. It is an awful thing to carry 'the rod of Thy +strength' and to hinder its exerting its energy. But possibly the non- +success of the attempt was meant to teach Elisha and us that miracles +of life-giving are not to be wrought so easily, but need the effort of +the prophet himself. We cannot delegate the work of God, and no sending +of others will do instead of going ourselves. Such things are not +achieved without much personal toil, pains, and self-sacrifice. + +III. So we come to the last step, the communication of life (verses 32- +37). It was noon when the child died. The mother's journey would take +three or four hours, and the return at least as much. It would then be +dark when the two reached her desolate home. She had laid the boy on +Elisha's bed, as if even that brought her some comfort. It is difficult +to say whether 'them twain' (verse 33) means him and the mother, or him +and the child; but the expression of the next verse, 'went up,' +suggests that the prayer with shut door was in the lower part of the +house, and that the mother's cry was joined to the prophet's petitions. +Such prayer is the true preparation for such a miracle. Beautiful +consideration, born of sympathy, led him to shut out curious onlookers, +and then to go up alone to the little chamber where that pale, tiny +corpse lay. No eye but a mother's could have seen what followed without +profanation; and a mother's heart would have been torn by hopes and +fears if she had seen. + +The actual miracle is remarkable for two peculiarities--the effort +required and the slowness of the process. Of course, there is a +profound and beautiful use to be made of the prophet's action in laying +himself upon the dead child, mouth to mouth, and hand to hand, if we +regard it as symbolic of that closeness of approach to our nature, dead +in sins, which the Lord of life makes in His incarnation and in His +continual drawing near. It is His own life which Jesus imparts, and it +is imparted because He comes near and touches us. It is the warmth of +His own heart which passes into those who live by derivation of life +from Him. And Elisha may well stand as symbol of Jesus in this miracle. +But besides that use of the narrative, which is no mere fanciful +playing with it, we should also note the difference between the prophet +and Christ in their miracles. Jesus raises the dead by His bare word. +His expressed will is all-sufficient. Elisha prays, and then puts forth +somewhat prolonged efforts, from which at first there is no effect, and +which drain him of force, so that he is obliged to pause and leave the +chamber, and gather himself together for a renewal of them. The ease of +the one sets the difficulty of the other in a strong light. And the +life which came back with a rush, in full stream, at Christ's bidding, +comes only by degrees at Elisha's prayer and work. The one worker is +the Lord of life, who speaks and it is done; the other is but the +channel of power, and the appearance of effort and gradualness in +result is owing to the narrowness of the channel, not to the inadequacy +of the power. + +In all Elisha's gentleness and lowliness there is yet a certain dignity +as God's prophet; and it was not fitting that he should come from the +scene of such a miracle with the glow of it upon him, to seek for the +mother. So he summons her by Gehazi, and then, with beautiful delicacy, +leaves her to go alone into the chamber. None are to see the transports +of her joy, not even the author of it. How beautiful, too, are the +quiet words, 'Take up thy son'! She has no words; but, for all answer, +comes close to him (there is no 'in' in verse 37), and once again, but +with what different feelings, clasps his feet. Not even Gehazi, or any +other stickler for propriety, has the heart to thrust her back this +time. The story draws a curtain over that meeting in the prophet's +chamber. Sad hearts who have vainly longed for such a moment, can fancy +the rapture. But the day will come, not here, but in the upper chamber, +when parted ones shall clasp each other again; and many a mourner shall +hear Jesus say from the throne what He once said from the Cross, +'Woman, behold thy son; son, behold thy mother.' + + + + +NAAMAN'S WRATH + +'And Elisha sent a messenger unto Naaman, saying, Go and wash in Jordan +seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be +clean. 11. But Naaman was wroth, and went away.'--2 KINGS v. 10,11. + + +These two figures are significant of much beyond themselves. Elisha the +prophet is the bearer of a divine cure. Naaman, the great Syrian noble, +is stricken with the disease that throughout the Old Testament is +treated as a parable of sin and death. He was the commander-in-chief of +the army of Damascus, high in favour at Ben-hadad's court; his +reputation and renown were on every tongue, _but_ he was a leper. +There is a 'but' in every fortune, as there is a 'but' in every +character. + +So he comes to the prophet's humble home in Samaria, and we find him +waiting, a suppliant at the gate, with his cavalcade of attendants, and +a present worth many thousands of pounds in our English money. + +How does the prophet receive his distinguished visitor? In all the rest +of his actions we find Elisha gentle, accessible, forgetful of his +dignity. Here his conduct would be discourteous if there were not a +reason for it. He is reserved, unsympathetic, keeps the great man at +the staff-end, will not even come out to receive him as common courtesy +might have suggested; sends him a curt message of direction, with not a +word more than was necessary. + +And then, naturally enough, the hot soldier begins to explode. His +pride is touched; he has not been received with due deference. If the +prophet would have come out and chanted incantations over him, and made +mystical motions of his hands above the shining patches of his leprous +skin, he could have believed in the cure. But there was nothing in the +injunction given for his superstition to lay hold of. His patriotic +susceptibilities are roused. If he is to be cleansed by bathing, are +not the crystal streams of his own city, the glory of Damascus, better +than the turbid and muddy Jordan that belongs to Israel? So he flounced +away, and would have sacrificed his hope of cure to his passion if his +servants had not brought him to common-sense by their cool +remonstrance. He would have done any great thing which he had been set +to do; he had already done a great thing in taking the long journey, +and being ready to expend all that vast amount of treasure, and so +surely there need be no difficulty in his complying, were it only as an +experiment, with the very simple and easy terms which the prophet had +enjoined. + +Now, all these points may be so put as to suggest for us +characteristics of that gospel which is God's cure for our leprosy. And +the whole story shows us as in a glass what human nature would like the +gospel to be, and how we sick men quarrel with our physic, and stumble +at those very characteristics of the gospel which are its main glory +and the secret of its power. My only purpose in this sermon is to bring +out two or three of these as lying on the surface of the story before +us. + +I. First, then, God's cure puts us all on one level. + +Naaman wished to be treated like a great man that happened to be a +leper; Elisha treated him like a leper that happened to be a great man. +'I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the +name of the Lord his God.' The whole question about his treatment turns +on this, Whether is the important thing his disease or his dignity? He +thought it was his dignity, the prophet thought it was his disease. And +so he served him as he would have served any one else that in similar +circumstances, and for a like necessity, had come to him. + +And now, if you will generalise that, it just comes to this--that +Christianity brushes aside all the surface differences of men, and goes +in its treatment of them straight to the central likenesses, the things +which, in all mankind, are identical. There are the same wants, the +same sorrows, the same necessity for the same cleansing beneath the +queen's robes and the peer's ermine, the workman's jacket and the +beggar's rags. + +Whatever differences of culture, of station, of idiosyncrasy there may +be, these are but surface and accidental. We are all alike in this, +that we 'have sinned, and come short of the glory of God'; and our +Great Physician, in His great remedy, insists upon treating us all as +patients, and not as this, that, or the other, kind of patients. The +cholera, when it lays hold of ladies and gentlemen, deals with them in +precisely the same fashion that it does when it lays hold of waifs on +the dunghill; and a wise doctor will treat the Prince of Wales just as +he will treat the Prince of Wales's stable-boy. Christianity has +nothing to say, in the first place, to the accidents that separate us +one from the other, but insists on looking at us all as standing on the +one level and partaking of the one characteristic. We may be wise or +foolish, we may be learned or ignorant, we may be rich or poor, we may +be high or low, we may be barbarian or civilised, but we are all +sinners. The leprosy runs through us all, according to the diagnosis of +Christianity, and our Elisha deals with Naaman as he deals with the +poorest footboy in Naaman's cavalcade who is afflicted with the same +disease. + +Now that rubs against our self-importance; a great many of us would be +quite willing to go to heaven, but we do not like to go in a common +caravan. We want to have a compartment to ourselves, and to travel in a +manner becoming our position. We are quite willing to be healed, but we +would like to be healed with due deference. You are an educated man, a +student; you do not like to take the same place as the most unlettered, +and to feel that the common fact of sin puts you, in a very solemn +respect, upon the level of these narrow foreheads and unlettered +people. And so some of you turn away because Christianity, with such +impartiality and persistency, insists upon the identity of the fact of +sin in us all, and passes by the little diversities on which we plume +ourselves, and which part us the one from the other. Dear brethren, I +am sure that some of my audience have been kept away from the gospel by +this humbling characteristic of it, that at the very beginning it +insists on bringing us all into the one category; and I venture to ask +you to ponder with yourselves this question, Is it not wise, is it not +necessary that the physician should look only at the disease and think +nothing of all the other facts of the patient's character or life? +Surely, surely, it is a fact that we are transgressors, and surely it +is a fact that if we be transgressors that is the most important thing +about us--far more important than all these diversities of which I have +been speaking. They are skin-deep, this is the central truth, that we +have souls which ought to stand in a living relation of glad obedience +to our Father in heaven; and which, alas! do stand in an attitude often +of sulky alienation, often of indifference, and not seldom of +rebellion. If so, then it is both wise and kind to deal with that +solemn fact first. In wisdom and in mercy Christianity deals with all +men as sinners, needing chiefly to be healed of that disease. 'The +Scripture hath concluded all under sin'--shut up the whole race as in a +great chamber, that so cleansing and forgiveness might reach them all. +They are gathered together as patients in a hospital are gathered, that +their sickness may be medicined and their wounds dressed. + +For this impartiality of the gospel, putting us all on one level, and +its determination to deal with us all as sinners, is but the other side +of, and the preparation for, that blessed universality of a sacrifice +for all, and a gospel for the whole world. Do not quarrel with your +physic because the Physician insists upon dealing with you as sick men. + +II. Then take another of the thoughts that come out of the incident +before us. God's cure puts the messengers of the cure well away in the +background. + +Naaman, heathen-like, wanted something sensuous for his confidence in +the prophet's cure to lay hold upon. If the prophet would only have +come out, and done like the sorcerers and magic-workers of whom he had +had experience; if he would have come weaving mystical incantations, +and calling upon the God whom he worshipped, but whom Naaman did not, +and making passes with his hands over the leprous places--then there +would have been something for his sense to build upon, and he would +have been ready to believe in the prophet's power to cure. But that was +the very thing which the prophet did not want him to believe in. Elisha +desired to conceal himself, and to make God's power prominent. He +wished to cure Naaman's soul of the leprosy of idolatry as well as to +cure his body; and we see, in the sequel of the story, that the very +simplicity of the means enjoined and the absence of any human agency, +which at first staggered the sensuous nature and offended the pride of +Naaman, at last led him to see and confess that there was no God in all +the earth but in Israel. Therefore the prophet keeps in the background. +His part is not to cure, but to bring God's cure. He is only a voice. +He brings the sick man and God's prescription face to face, and there +leaves him. Naaman would have liked to force him into the place of a +magician, in whom miracle-working power resided. Elisha will only take +the place of a herald who proclaims how God's power may be brought to +heal. So men have always sought to turn the messengers of God's cure +into miracle-workers. Making the ministers of God's word into priests +who by external acts convey grace and forgiveness, is a superstition +that has its roots deep in human nature. It is not that the priests +have made themselves so much as that the people have made the priests. +Here is an instance in a rude form of the tendency which has been at +work in all generations, and has been the corruption of Christianity +from the beginning, and is doing mischief every day--the tendency to +place one's confidence in a man who is supposed to be, in some +mysterious manner, the bearer of a grace that will cure and cleanse. +And the prophet's position in our story brings out very clearly the +position which all Christian ministers hold. They are nothing but +heralds, their personality disappears, they are merely a voice. All +that they have to do is to bring men into contact with God's own word +of command and promise, and then to vanish. + +Christianity has no 'priests,' Christianity has no 'sacraments.' +Christianity has no external rites which bring grace or help except in +so far as by their aid the soul is brought into contact with the truth, +and by meditation and faith is thus made capable of receiving more of +Christ's Spirit. Our only commission is to bring to you God's message +of how you may be healed. When we have said, 'Wash, and be clean,' as +plainly, earnestly, and lovingly as we can, we have done all our +appointed office. We are heralds, and nothing more. Our business is to +preach, not to do rites, or minister sacraments. Our business is to +preach, not to argue. We are neither priests nor professors, but +preachers. We have to deliver the message given to us faithfully. We +have to ring out the proclamation loudly. The virtue of a town crier is +that he make people hear and understand. The virtue of a messenger is +that he repeats precisely what he was told. And a Christian minister +has to lift up his voice and not be afraid, to see to it that his +speech be plain, and that it do not overlay the message with fripperies +of ornament, or affectations, or personalities, and to plead earnestly +and lovingly with men to come to the divine Healer. John Baptist's +description of himself is true of them. With rare self-abnegation, he +would only reply to the question, 'Who art thou?' with 'I am a voice.' +His personality was nothing. His message was all. A musical string +cannot be seen as it vibrates. So the man should be lost in his +proclamation. We are heralds and nothing more, and the more we keep in +the background and the less our hearers depend on us, the better. If +you want priests who will 'call on the name of their God, and wave +their hands over the place,' and convey grace and healing to you by +anything that they do for or to you, you will have to go beyond the +limits of New Testament Christianity to find them. So men quarrel with +their medicine because their cure is purely a spiritual process, +depending on spiritual forces, and sense cries out for sacred rites and +persons to be the channels of God's healing. + +III. And now, lastly, God's cure wants nothing from you but to take it. + +Naaman's servants were quite right: 'My father! If the prophet had bid +thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it?' Yes! Of +course he would, and the greater the better. Men will stand, as Indian +fakirs do, with their arms above their heads until they stiffen there. +They will perch themselves upon pillars, like Simeon Stylites, for +years, till the birds build their nests in their hair: they will +measure all the distance from Cape Comorin to Juggernaut's temple with +their bodies along the dusty road. They will give the fruit of their +body for the sin of their soul. They will wear hair shirts and scourge +themselves. They will fast and deny themselves. They will build +cathedrals and endow churches. They will do as many of you do, labour +by fits and starts all through your lives at the endless task of making +yourselves ready for heaven, and winning it by obedience and by +righteousness. They will do all these things and do them gladly, rather +than listen to the humbling message that says, 'You do not need to do +anything--wash!' Is it your washing, or the water, that will clean you? +Wash and be clean! Ah, my brother! Naaman's cleansing was only a test +of his obedience, and a token that it was God who cleansed him. There +was no power in Jordan's waters to take away the taint of leprosy. Our +cleansing is in that blood of Jesus Christ that has the power to take +away all sin, and to make the foulest amongst us pure and clean. + +But the two commandments--that of the symbol in my text, that of the +reality in the Christian gospel--are alike in this respect, that both +the one and the other are a confession that the man himself has no part +in his own cleansing. And so Naamans, in all generations, who were +eager to do some great thing, have stumbled, and turned away from that +gospel which says, 'It is finished!' 'Not by works of righteousness +which we have done, but by His mercy He saved us.' Dear brother, you +can do nothing. You do not need to do anything. It is a hard pill for +my pride to swallow, to be indebted to absolute mercy, which I have +done nothing to bring, for all my hope, but it is a position that we +have to take. Hard to take for all of us, very hard for you who have +never looked in the face the solemn fact of your own sinfulness, and +pondered upon the consequences of that; but most blessed if only you +will open your eyes to see that the stern refusal to accept anything +from us as working out our salvation is but the other side of the great +truth that Christ's death is all-sufficient, and that in Him the +foulest may be clean. + + 'Nothing in my hand I bring.' + +If you bring anything you cannot grasp the Cross. Do not try to eke out +Christ's work with yours; do not build upon penitence, or feelings, or +faith, or anything, but build only upon this: 'When I had nothing to +pay He frankly forgave me all.' And build upon this: 'Christ alone has +died for me'; and Christ alone is all-sufficient. 'Wash and be clean'; +accept and possess; believe and live! + + + + +NAAMAN'S IMPERFECT FAITH + +'And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came +and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no +God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a +blessing of thy servant. 16. But he said, As the Lord liveth, before +whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he +refused. 17. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be +given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will +henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, +but unto the Lord. 18. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that +when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he +leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow +down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this +thing. 19. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a +little way. 20. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, +Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at +his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run +after him, and take somewhat of him. 21. So Gehazi followed after +Naaman: and when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from +the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22. And he said, All is +well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to +me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give +them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two charges of garments. 23. +And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and +bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments +and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. +24. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and +bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. +25. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto +him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no +whither. 26. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when +the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to +receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, +and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27. The leprosy +therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. +And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.'--2 KINGS +v. 15-27. + +Like the Samaritan leper healed by Jesus, Naaman came back to give +glory to God. Samaria was quite out of his road to Damascus, but +benefit melted his heart, and the pride, which had been indignant that +the prophet did not come out to him, faded before thankfulness, which +impelled him to go to the prophet. God's gifts should humble, and +gratitude is not afraid to stoop. Elisha would not see Naaman before, +for he needed to be taught; but he gladly welcomes him into his +presence now, for he has learned his lesson. Sometimes the best way to +attract is to repel, and the true servant of God consults not his own +dignity, but others' good, whichever he does. + +I. The first point is the offer and refusal of the gift. The benefited +is liberal and the benefactor disinterested. Naaman was a convert to +pure monotheism. His avowal is clear and full. But what a miserable +conclusion he draws with that 'therefore'! He should have said, +'Therefore I come to trust under the shadow of His wings.' But he is +not ready to give himself, and, like some of the rest of us, thinks to +compound by giving money. When the outward giving of goods is token of +inward surrender of self, it is accepted. When it is a substitute for +that, it is rejected. No doubt, too, Naaman thought that Elisha was, +like the sorcerers of heathenism, very accessible to gifts; and if he +had come to believe in Elisha's God, he had yet to learn the loving- +kindness of the God in whom he had come to believe. He had to learn +next that 'the gift of God' was not 'purchased with money' and the +prophet's acceptance of his present would have dimmed Elisha's own +character, and that of his God, in the newly opened eyes of Naaman. + +Elisha's answer begins with the solemn adjuration which we first hear +from Elijah. In its use here, it not only declares the unalterable +determination of Elisha, but reveals its grounds. To a man who feels +ever the burning consciousness that he is in the presence of God, all +earthly good dwindles into nothing. How should talents of silver and +gold, and changes of raiment, have worth in eyes before which that +awful, blessed vision flames? A candle shows black against the sun. If +we walk all the day in the light of God's countenance, we shall not see +much brightness to dazzle us in the pale and borrowed lights of earth. +The vivid realisation of God in our daily lives is the true shield +against the enticements of the world. Further, the consciousness of +being God's servant, which is implied in the expression 'before whom I +stand,' makes a man shrink from receiving wages from men. 'To his own +Master he standeth or falleth,' and will be scrupulously careful that +no taint of apparent self-seeking shall spoil his service, in the eyes +of men or in the judgment of the 'great Taskmaster.' Elisha felt that +the honour of his order, and, in some sense, of his God, in the eyes of +this half-convert, depended on his own perfect and transparent +disinterestedness. Therefore, although he made no scruple of taking the +Shunemite's gifts, and probably lived on similar offerings, he +steadfastly refused the enormous sum proffered by Naaman. 'The labourer +is worthy of his hire,' but if accepting it is likely to make people +think that he did his work for the sake of it, he must refuse it. A +hireling is not a man who is paid for his work, but one who works for +the sake of the pay. If once a professed servant of God falls under +reasonable suspicion of doing that, his power for good is ended, as it +should be. + +II. The next point to notice is the alloy in the gold, or the +imperfection of Naaman's new convictions. He had been cured of his +leprosy at once, but the cure of his soul had to be more gradual. It is +unreasonable to expect clear sight, with the power of rightly +estimating magnitudes, from a man seeing for the first time. But though +Naaman's shortcomings are very natural and excusable, they are plainly +shortcomings. Note the two forms which they take,--superstition and +selfish compromise. What good would a couple of loads of soil be, and +could he not have taken that from the roadside without leave? The +connection between the two halves of verse 17 makes his object plain. +He wished the earth 'for' he would not sacrifice but to Jehovah. That +is, he meant to use it as the foundation of an altar, as if only some +of the very ground on which Jehovah had manifested Himself was sacred +enough for such a purpose. He did not, indeed, think of 'the Lord' as a +local deity of Israel, as his ample confession of faith in verse 15 +proves; but neither had he reached the point of feeling that the Being +worshipped makes the altar sacred. No wonder that he did not unlearn in +an hour his whole way of thinking of religion! The reliance on +externals is too natural to us all, even with all our training in a +better faith, to allow of our wondering at or severely blaming him. A +sackful of earth from Palestine has been supposed to make a whole +graveyard a 'Campo Santo'; and, no doubt, there are many good people in +England who have carried home bottles of Jordan water for christenings. +Does not the very name of 'the Holy Land' witness to the survival of +Naaman's sentimental error? + +The other tarnish on the clear mirror was of a graver kind. Notice that +he does not ask Elisha's sanction to his intended compromise, but +simply announces his intention, and hopes for forgiveness. It looks ill +when a man, in the first fervour of adopting a new faith, is casting +about for ways to reconcile it with the public profession of his old +abandoned one. We should have thought better of Naaman's monotheism, if +he had not coupled his avowal of it, where it was safe to be honest, +with the announcement that he did not intend to stand by his avowal +when it was risky. It would have required huge courage to have gone +back to Damascus and denied Rimmon; and our censure must be lenient, +but decided. + +Naaman was the first preacher of a doctrine of compromise, which has +found eminent defenders and practisers, in our own and other times. To +separate the official from the man, and to allow the one to profess in +public a creed which the other disavows in private, is rank immorality, +whoever does or advocates it. The motive in this case was, perhaps, not +so much cowardice as selfish unwillingness to forfeit position and +favour at court. He wants to keep all the good things he has got; and +he tries to blind his conscience by representing the small compliance +of bowing as almost forced on him by the grasp of the bowing king, who +leaned on his hand. But was it necessary that he should be the king's +favourite? A deeper faith would have said, 'Perish court favour and +everything that hinders me from making known whose I am.' But Naaman is +an early example of the family of 'Facing-both-ways,' and of trying to +'make the best of both worlds.' But his sophistication of conscience +will not do, and his own dissatisfaction with his excuse peeps out +plainly in his petition that he may be forgiven. If his act needed +forgiveness, it should not have been done, nor thus calmly announced. +It is vain to ask forgiveness beforehand for known sin about to be +committed. + +Elisha is not asked for his sanction, and he neither gives nor refuses +it. He dismissed Naaman with cold dignity, in the ordinary conventional +form of leave-taking. His silence indicated at least the absence of +hearty approval, and probably he was silent to Naaman because, as he +said about the Shunemite's trouble, the Lord had been silent to him, +and he had no authoritative decision to give. Let us hope that Naaman's +faith grew and stiffened before the time of trial came, and that he did +not lie to God in the house of Rimmon. Let us take the warning that we +are to publish on the housetops what we hear in the ear, and that, if +in anything we should be punctiliously sincere, it is in the profession +of our faith. + +III. The last point is Gehazi's avarice, and what he got by it. How +differently the same sight affected the man who lived near God and the +one who lived by sense! Elisha had no desires stirred by the wealth in +Naaman's train. Gehazi's mouth watered after it. Regulate desires and +you rule conduct. The true regulation of desires is found in communion +with God. Gehazi had a sordid soul, like Judas; and, like the traitor +Apostle, he was untouched by contact with goodness and unworldliness. +Perhaps the parallel might be carried farther, and both were moved with +coarse contempt for their master's silly indifference to earthly good. +That feeling speaks in Gehazi's soliloquy. He evidently thought the +prophet a fool for having let 'this Syrian' off so easily. He was fair +game, and he had brought the wealth on purpose to leave it. Profanity +speaks in uttering a solemn oath on such an occasion. The putting side +by side of 'the Lord liveth' and 'I will run after him' would be +ludicrous if it were not horrible. How much profanity may live close +beside a prophet, and learn nothing from him but a holy name to sully +in an oath! + +The after part of the story suggests that Naaman was out of sight of +the city before he saw Gehazi coming after him. The cunning liar timed +his arrival well. The courtesy of Naaman in lighting down from his +chariot to receive the prophet's servant shows how real a change had +been wrought upon him, even though there were imperfections in him. +Gehazi's story is well hung together, and has plenty of 'local colour' +to make it probable. Such glib ingenuity in lying augurs long practice +in the art. If he had been content with a small fee, he needed only to +have told the truth; but his story was required to put a fair face on +the amount of his request. And in what an amiable light it sets Elisha! +He would not take for himself, but he has nothing to give to the two +imaginary scholars, who have come from some of the schools of the +prophets in the hill-country of Ephraim, thirsting for instruction. How +sweet the picture, and what a hard heart that could refuse the request! +Truly said Paul, 'The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.' +Any sin may come from it, and be done to gratify it. 'Honestly if you +can, but get it,' was Gehazi's principle, as it is that of many a man +in the Christian Churches of this day. Greed of gain is a sin that +seldom keeps house alone. Naaman no doubt was glad to give, both +because he was grateful, and because, like most people in high +positions, he was galled by the sense of obligation to a man beneath +him in rank. So back went Gehazi, with the two Syrian slaves carrying +his baggage for him, and he chuckling at his lucky stroke, and +pleasantly imagining how to spend his wealth. + +'The tower' in verse 24 is more correctly 'the hill,' and it was +probably there where the little group would come in sight of Elisha's +house. So Gehazi gets rid of the porters before they could be seen or +speak to any one, and manages his load for a little way himself, +carefully hides it in the house, and, seeing the men safely off, +appears obsequious and innocent before Elisha. The prophet's gift of +supernatural knowledge was intermittent, as witness his ignorance of +the Shunemite's sorrow; but Gehazi must have known its occasional +action, and we can fancy that his heart sank at the ominous question, +so curt in the original, and conveying so clearly the prophet's +knowledge that he had been away from the house: 'Whence, Gehazi?' One +lie needs another to cover it, and every sin is likely to beget a +successor. So, with some tremor, but without hesitation, he tries to +hide his tracks. Did not Elisha's eye pierce the wretched hypocrite as +with a dart? and did not his voice ring like a judgment trumpet, as he +confounded the silent sinner with the conviction that the prophet +himself had been at the spot, though his body had remained in the +house? So, at last, will men be reduced to stony dumbness, when they +discover that an Eye which can see deeper than Elisha's has been gazing +on all their secret sins. The question, 'Is this a time to receive?' +etc., suggests the special reasons, in Naaman's new faith, for +conspicuous disregard of wealth, in order that he might thereby learn +the free love of Elisha's God and of Jehovah's servant, both of which +had been tarnished by Gehazi's ill-omened greed. The long enumeration +following on 'garments' includes, no doubt, the things that Gehazi had +solaced his return with the thought of buying, and so adds another +proof that his heart was turned inside out before the prophet. + +His punishment is severe; but his sin was great. The leprosy was a +fitting punishment, both because it had been Naaman's, from which +obedient reliance on God had set him free, and because of its +symbolical meaning, as the type of sin. Gehazi got his coveted money, +but he got something else along with it, which he did not bargain for, +and which took all the sweetness out of it. That is always the case. +'Ill-gotten gear never prospers'; and, if a man has set his heart on +worldly good, he may succeed in amassing a fortune, but the leprosy +will cleave to him, and his soul will be all crusted and foul with that +living death. How many successful men, perhaps high in reputation in +the Church as in the world, would stand 'lepers as white as snow,' if +we had God's eyes to see them with! + + + + +SIGHT AND BLINDNESS + +'Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with +his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9. And +the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that them +pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. 10. And +the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and +warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 11. +Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this +thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew +me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12. And one of his servants +said, None, my Lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, +telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy +bedchamber. 13. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send +and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. +14. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: +and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 15. And when the +servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an +host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant +said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16. And he answered, +Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with +them. 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his +eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; +and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots +of fire round about Elisha. 18. And when they came down to him, Elisha +prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray Thee, with +blindness. And He smote them with blindness according to the word of +Elisha.'--2 KINGS vi 8-18. + + +The revelation of the angel guard around Elisha is the important part +of this incident, but the preliminaries to it may yield some +instruction. The first point to be noted is the friendly relations +between the king and the prophet. The king was probably Joram, who had +given up Baal worship, though still retaining the calves at Bethel and +Dan (2 Kings iii 2). The whole tone of things is changed from the +stormy days of Elijah. The prophet is frequently an inhabitant of the +capital, and a trusted counsellor. No doubt much of this improvement +was owing to Elijah's undaunted denunciation, but much, too, was due to +Elisha's gentle persuasion. We are often tempted to do injustice to the +sterner predecessors when we see how the gentler ways of their +followers seem to accomplish more than theirs did. Unless winter storms +had come first, spring sunshine would draw forth few flowers. All +honour to the heroes who begin the fight, and do not see the victory. + +The Syrian king's way of warfare was not by a regular continued +invasion, but by dashes across the border on undefended places; and +time after time he found himself out in his calculations, and troops +enough to beat him off massed where he meant to strike. No wonder that +he suspected treachery. The prompt answer of his servants implies that +Elisha's intervention was well known by them, and measures the +reputation in which he stood. Let no one suppose that thwarting Syria +was an unworthy use of a supernatural gift. The preservation of Israel +and the revelation of God were worthy ends, and all that is accessory +to a worthy end is worthy. It is foolish to call anything a trifle +which serves a great purpose. + +Joram had learned to obey the prophet, and his people and their enemies +had learned that Elisha was a prophet. That was much. He had no great +revelations of the deep things of God to give to his generation or to +posterity, but he gave directions as to practical life which bore on +the wellbeing of the state; and that office was not less divinely +conferred. It is a good thing when God's servants are not afraid to +make their voices heard in politics, and a safeguard for a nation when +their counsels are taken. The quiet prophet was more to Israel than an +army. + +The 'great host' sent to capture Elisha shows the terror which he had +inspired, and the importance attached to getting possession of him. It +is, too, an odd instance of the inconsistency of godless men, in that +it never occurs to the Syrian king that Elisha, who knew all his +schemes, might know this one too, or that horses and chariots were of +little use against a man who had Heaven to back him. Dothan lay on an +isolated hill in a wide plain, and could easily be surrounded. A night- +march offered the chance of a surprise, which seems to have been +prevented by the unusually early rising of Elisha's servant, the young +successor of Gehazi. Apparently he had gone out of the little city +before he discovered the besiegers, and then rushed back in terror. +Note the strongly contrasted pictures of the lad and his master,--the +one representing the despair of sense, the other the confidence of +faith. The lad's passionate exclamation was most natural, and fear +darkening to bewildered helplessness is reasonable to men who only see +the material and visible dangers and enemies that beset every life. The +wonder is, not that we should sometimes be afraid, but that we should +ever be free from fear, if we look only at visible facts. Worse foes +ring us round than those whose armour glittered in the morning sunshine +at Dothan, and we are as helpless to cope with them as that frightened +youth was. Any man who calmly reflects on the possibilities and +certainties of his life will find abundant reason for a sinking heart. +So much that is dreadful and sad may come, and so much must come, that +the boldest may well shrink, and the most resourceful cry 'Alas! how +shall we do?' It is not courage, but blindness, which enables godless +men to front life so unconcernedly. + +How nobly the calmness of Elisha shows beside the lad's alarm! Probably +both were now outside the city, as the immediately following verse +speaks of the mountain as the scene. If so, Elisha had gone forth to +meet the enemy, and that must have brought fresh terror to his servant. +The quiet 'Fear not!' was of little use without the assurance of the +next clause; for there is no more idle expenditure of breath than in +telling a man not to be afraid, and doing nothing to remove the grounds +of his fear. That is all that the world can do to comfort or hearten. +'Fear not?' the youth might well have said. 'It is all very easy to say +that; but look there! How can I help being afraid?' There is only one +way to help it, and that is to believe that 'they that be with us are +more than they that be with them.' The true and only conqueror of +reasonable fear is still more reasonable trust. The two parts played by +the servant and the prophet are united in the man who cleaves to Jesus +Christ as his defence. He would not cling so close to Him but for the +fear that tightens his grip. He would tremble far more but for that +grip. He who says in his heart, 'What time I am afraid, I will trust in +Thee,' will presently get to saying, 'I will trust, and not be afraid.' + +Note, further, the sight seen by opened eyes. Elisha did not pray that +the heavenly guards might come; for they were there already. Nor does +it appear that he saw them; for he did not need that heightened +condition of spiritual perception which appears to be meant by the +opening of the eyes. And what a sight the trembling young man saw! +Where he had seen only barren rock or sparse vegetation, he saw that +same fiery host that had attended Elijah in his translation, now +enclosing the unarmed prophet and himself within a flaming ring. The +manifestation, not the presence, of the angel guards was the miracle. +It was a momentary unveiling of what always was, and would be after the +curtain was drawn again. I suppose that no reverent reader of Scripture +can doubt the existence of angelic beings, or their office to 'minister +to the heirs of salvation.' To us, indeed, who know Him who is the +'Head of all principalities and powers,' the doctrine of angelic +ministration is of less importance than that of Christ's divine help; +but the latter truth does not supersede the former, though its +brightness throws the other, about which we know so much less, into +comparative shadow. But we may still learn from this transient +disclosure of 'the things that are,' the permanent truth of the ever- +active presence of divinely sent helps and guards, with all who trust +in Him. + +This manifestation has several features of resemblance to that given to +Jacob, in his most defenceless hour, when he saw beside his unprotected +camp of women and children 'God's host,' and, in a rapture of thankful +wonder, named the place 'Mahanaim,'--'Two Camps.' The sight teaches us +that God's messengers are ever near, and then most near when needed +most. It tells us, too, that they come in the form needed. They are +warriors when we are ringed about by foes, counsellors when we are +perplexed, comforters when we mourn. Their shapes are as varied as our +needs, and ever correspond to 'the present distress.' They come in +power sufficient to conquer. There was force enough circling the +prophet to have annihilated all the Syrians. True, they did not draw +their celestial swords, but they were there, and their presence was +enough for the triumphant faith of the guarded men. What living thing +could come through that wall of fire? + +Our eyes are blinded and we need to have them cleared, if not in the +same manner as this lad's, yet in an analogous way. We look so +constantly at the things seen that we have no sight for the unseen. +Worldliness, sin, unbelief, sense and its trifles, time and its +transitoriness, blind the eyes of our mind; and we need those of sense +to be closed, that these may open. The truest vision is the vision of +faith. It is certain, direct, and conclusive. The world says, 'Seeing +is believing'; the gospel says, 'Believing is seeing.' If we would but +live near to Jesus Christ, pray to Him to touch our blind eyeballs, and +turn away from the dazzling unrealities which sense brings, we should +find Him 'the master-light of all our seeing,' and be sure of the +eternal, invisible things, with an assurance superior to that given by +the keenest sight in the brightest sunshine. When we are blind to +earth, we see earth glorified by angel presences, and fear and despair +and helplessness and sorrow flee away from our tranquil hearts. If, on +the other hand, we fix our gaze on earth and its trifles, there will +generally be more to alarm than to encourage, and we shall do well to +be afraid, if we do not see, as in such a case we shall certainly not +see, the fiery wall around us, behind which God keeps His people safe. + +Note, finally, the blindness. Elisha's dealing with the advancing host +of Syria can only be rightly estimated by looking beyond the limits of +the text. His object was to carry the whole army into Samaria, that +they might there be won by giving them bread to eat and water to drink, +and so heaping coals of fire on their head. The prophet, who was in so +many points a foreshadowing of the gospel type of excellence, was the +first to show the right way to conquer. Nineteen centuries of so-called +Christianity have not brought 'Christendom' to practise Elisha's recipe +for finishing a war. It succeeded in his hands; for, after that feast +and liberation of a captured army, 'the bands of Syria came no more +into the land of Israel.' How could they, as long as the remembrance of +that kindness lasted? Pity that the same sort of treatment were not +tried to-day! + +The blindness which fell on the Syrians does not seem to have been +total loss of sight,--for, if so, they could not have followed Elisha +to Samaria, nearly fifteen miles off,--but rather an ocular affection +which prevented them from recognising what they saw. It was a +supernatural impediment in any case, however far it extended. God did +'according to the word of Elisha,' a wonderful inversion of the +ordinary formula. But that was because Elisha was doing according to +the word of the Lord. The prayers which are 'according to His will' are +the answered prayers. + +They who see not the angels, see nothing clearly. There is a mist over +every eye that beholds only the things of time, which prevents it from +seeing these as they are, and from recognising a prophet when he is +before them. If we would rightly estimate the objects of sense, we must +discern, shining through them, the far loftier and greater things of +eternity. That flaming background is needed to supply a scale by which +to measure the others. The flat plain of Lombardy is most beautiful +when its flatness is seen girdled by the giant Alps, where lies the +purity of the snow which feeds the rivers that fertilise the levels +below. + + + + +'IMPOSSIBLE,--ONLY I SAW IT' + +'Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, +Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour he sold for a +shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of +Samaria. 2. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man +of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, +might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine +eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3. And there were four leprous men at +the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we +here until we die? 4. If we say, We will enter into the city, then the +famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still +here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of +the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, +we shall but die. 5. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the +camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of +the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6. For the Lord had +made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise +of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to +another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the +Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7. Wherefore +they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their +horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their +life. 8. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, +they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence +silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and +entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid +it. 9. Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day +of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning +light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may +go and tell the king's household. 10. So they came and called unto the +porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of +the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, +but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11. And he +called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within. 12. +And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now +shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; +therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the +field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them +alive, and get into the city 13. And one of his servants answered and +said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, +which, are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of +Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the +multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and +see. 14. They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent +after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15. And they went +after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and +vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the +messengers returned, and told the king. 16. And the people went out, +and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was +sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according +to the word of the Lord.'--2 KINGS vii. 1-16. + + +The keynote of this incident lies in the promise in the first verse. +The whole story illustrates man's too frequent rejection of God's +promise, and God's wonderful way of fulfilling it. + +I. We note first the promise which common-sense finds incredible. It +came from Elisha when all seemed desperate. The wonderfully vivid +narrative in the previous chapter tells a pitiful tale of women boiling +their children, of unclean food worth more than its weight in silver, +of a king worked up to a pitch of frenzy and murderous designs, and +renouncing his allegiance to Jehovah. Such faith as he had was strained +to the breaking point, and his messenger was sent to tell the prophet +that the king would not 'wait for the Lord any longer.' That was the +moment chosen to speak the promise. It came, as God's helps, both of +promise and act, so often come, at the very nick of time, when faith is +ready to fail and human aid is vain. Before we had learned our hopeless +state, they would come too soon for our good; after faith had wholly +parted from its moorings, they would come too late. + +Note the precision and confidence of the promise. The hour of the +fulfilment, and the price of flour and the cheaper barley are stated. +Man's promises are vague; God's are specific. Mark, too, the entire +silence of the promise as to the mode of its fulfilment. Probably +Elisha knew as little as any one, how it was going to be accomplished. +The particularity and vagueness combined are remarkable. A hint as to +how the thing was to be done would have made the belief in the fact so +much easier. Yes, and just because it would have smoothed the road for +worthless belief, it was not given, but the apparently impossible +promise was left in nakedness, for any one who needed sense to animate +his faith, to scoff at. Is not that emphatic assertion of the fact, and +emphatic silence as to the 'how,' a frequent characteristic of God's +promises? If ever we are kept in the dark as to the latter, it is for +our good, and for the encouragement of our growth in utter dependence +and perfect trust. It is not well for the trusting soul to ask too +curiously about methods intervening between the promise in the present +and its accomplishment in the future. It is better for peace and the +simplicity of our trust, that we should be content to cling to the +faithful word, and to 'believe... that it shall be even as it was told' +us, without troubling ourselves about His way of effecting His +purposes. Passengers are not admitted to the engine-room, nor allowed +on the bridge. Let them leave all the working of the ship to the +captain. + +II. The noble who blurted out his incredulity had a great deal to say +for himself from the common-sense and worldly point of view. But he +need not have sneered, in the same breath, at old miracles and new. His +sarcasm about 'windows in heaven' refers to the story of the flood; and +perhaps there is a hint of allusion to the manna. He neither believed +these ancient deeds, nor the promise for to-morrow. Why not? Simply +because he--wise as he thought himself--could not see any way of +bringing it about. There are many of us yet who have the same modest +opinion of our own acuteness, and go on the supposition that what we do +not see is invisible, and what we cannot do, or imagine done, is +impossible. Why should not the Lord 'make windows in heaven' if He +please? Or, how does the pert objector know that that is the only way +of fulfilling the promise? He will be taught that he has not quite +exhausted all the possibilities open to Omnipotence, and that something +much simpler than windows in heaven can do what is wanted. Unbelief +which rejects God's plain promises because it does not see how they can +be fulfilled is common enough still, and is as unreasonable as it is +impertinent. Elisha was as ignorant as this nobleman was, of the means, +but his faith fixed its eyes on the faithful word, and trusted, while +sense, self-conceit, and worldliness, a mole pretending to have an +eagle's eye, declared that to be impossible which it could not see the +way to bring about, and thereby exposed only its own blind arrogance. + +III. Elisha's answer (v. 2) sounds like Elijah. The utmost gentleness +is stirred to pronounce condemnation on self-confident unbelief, and a +gentler gentleness than Elisha's, even Christ's, shrinks not from +executing the sentence. Is not the sentence on this scoffing lord the +very sentence pronounced ever on unbelief? In his case, it was +fulfilled by the crowd that pressed, in their ravenous hunger, through +the gate, and trod him down; but in ordinary cases, in our days, the +natural operation of unbelief is to shut men out from the fruition, of +which faith is the necessary and only condition. It is no avenging and +arbitrarily imposed exclusion, but the necessary result of self-made +disqualification, which brings on the unbeliever the doom, 'Thou shalt +not eat thereof.' The blessings of the religious life on earth, and the +glories of its perfection in heaven, are only enjoyable through faith. +These are not so plainly visible to the unbelieving heart as the scene +at the gate was to the nobleman; but, in some measure, even those who +do not possess them do, in some lucid moments, see their worth. It is +one sad part of the sad lives of godless men that they have their +seasons of calm weather, when, in the clearer atmosphere, they catch +glimpses of their true good, but that they yet do not behold it long +and close enough to be smitten with the desire to possess it; and so +the sight remains inoperative, or adds to their condemnation. Not to +taste is the sadder fate, because there has been sight. To have eyes +opened at last to our own folly, and to see the rich provision of God's +table, when it is too late, will be a chief pang of future +retribution,--as it sometimes is of present god-lessness. + +IV. Passing over for the present the account of the discovery by the +four lepers, we may next note God's way of fulfilling His promise. A +panic would spread fast in an undisciplined army, and history supplies +examples of the swift change into a mob under the influence of +groundless terror. There is nothing wonderful in the helter-skelter +rush for the Jordan, or in the road being littered with abandoned +baggage. The divine intervention produced the impression which +naturally brought the flight about, and the coincidence of the prophecy +and the panic which fulfilled it stamp both as divinely originated. But +if we looked on events as devoutly, and saw into their true character +as deeply as the author of the Books of Kings does, we should see that +many a similar coincidence, which we trace no farther than to men or +circumstances, was due to the same divine cause which made the Syrians +to hear 'the noise of a great host.' Track the river of life to its +source, and you come to God. + +'The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.' Imaginary terrors are apt to +beset those who have no trust in God. If we fear Him, we need have no +other fear; but if we have not Him for our anchorage, we shall be +driven by gusts of passion and terror. The unseen possibilities of +attack and defeat may well terrify a man who has not the unseen God to +keep him calm. + +Windows in heaven, then, were not needed, and the arrogance which said +'Impossible!' had not measured all the resources of God. A very wise +scientist here in England proved that the Atlantic could not be crossed +by a steamer, and the first steamer that did cross took out copies of +his book. How foolish men's demonstrations of impossibility look beside +God's deliverances! We have not gone through all the chambers of His +storehouse, and 'His ways are far above, out of our sight.' Let us hold +fast by the faith that His arm is strong to do whatever His lips are +gracious to engage, nor let our inability to see where the river gets +through the mountains ever make us doubt that it will reach the sunlit +ocean. + +V. We may throw together the remaining parts of the incident, as +showing how the fulfilled promise was received. These four lepers had +heard nothing of it, when despair made them venturesome. How reckless +they were, and how they harp on the one gloomy word 'die'! The thought +was familiar to them, and yet, lepers though they were, life was sweet, +and a chance of prolonging it, even as slaves, was worth trying. They +chose twilight, that they might be unobserved. We can see them creeping +cautiously, with beating hearts, towards the camp, expecting every +moment to be challenged, and possibly slain. How their caution would +diminish and their wonder grow, as they passed from end to end, and +found no one! There stood the horses and asses, left behind lest their +footfalls should betray the flight, and every tent empty of men and +full of spoil. The lepers seem to have gone right through the camp +before they ventured to begin plundering; for the 'uttermost part' in +verse 5 and that in verse 8 are naturally understood of its opposite +extremities. Then, secure against surprise, they eat and drink as +ravenously as men who had been starving so long would do. Twilight had +deepened into darkness before hunger and greed were satisfied. Not till +then did they awake to their duty; and even when they bethink +themselves, it is fear of punishment, not care for a city full of +hungry men, that moves them. But their tardy awaking to duty is couched +in words which carry a great truth, especially to all who have tasted +the Bread of Life. It is 'not well' to 'hold our peace' in 'a day of +good tidings.' If we have good news, especially _the_ good news, +its possession obliges us to impart it. If we have tasted the +graciousness of the Lord, we are bound to tell of the stores we have +found. 'He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him.' 'Of how +much sorer punishment...shall he be thought worthy,' who keeps to +himself the food of the world? + +Lepers were strange messengers of good, but the message graces the +bringer, and they who tell good tidings are sure of a welcome. God does +not choose great men for the heralds of His mercy, but the +qualification is personal experience. These four could only say, 'We +have seen and tasted,' but that was enough. The king's caution was very +natural, and would have been quite blameless, if God's promise had not +been spoken the day before. But that made the slowness to believe a +sin. Feeling one's way over untried ice is prudent; but if we have +previously been told that it will bear, it proves our distrust of him +who told us. The despatch of the chariots to make a reconnaissance was +needless trouble. But men are always apt to think that faith is but a +shaky ground of certitude unless it be backed up by sense. When God +gives us His word to trust to, we are wisest if we trust to it alone, +and we may save ourselves the trouble of sending out scouts to see if +it is really beginning to be fulfilled. Elisha had no need to wait the +report of the charioteers before he believed in the fulfilment of the +promise, which others had found incredible when spoken, and too good to +be true even when fulfilled. Let us trust God, whether sense can attest +the incipient accomplishment of His words or no. + + + + +SILENT CHRISTIANS + +'Then they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day of +good tidings, and we hold our peace; if we tarry till the morning +light, some mischief will come upon us; now therefore come, that we may +go and tell the king's household.'--2 KINGS vii. 9. + + +The city of Samaria was closely besieged, and suffering all the horrors +of famine. Women were boiling and eating their children, and the most +revolting garbage was worth its weight in silver. Four starving lepers, +sitting by the gate, plucked up courage from the extremity of their +distress, and looking in each other's bloodshot eyes, whispered one to +another, with their hoarse voices: 'If we say we will enter into the +city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we +sit still here we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto +the host of the Syrians; if they save us alive we shall live; and if +they kill us we shall but die.' So in the twilight they stole away. As +they come near the camp there is a strange silence; no guards, no stir. +They creep to the first tent and find it empty; and then another, and +another, and another, till at last it admits of no doubt that certainly +the enemy has gone, leaving all his baggage behind him, So for awhile +they feast and plunder--small blame to them! And then conscience wakes, +and the same thought occurs to each of them: 'This is not patriotic; +this is scarcely human; it is a shame for us to be sitting here gorging +ourselves whilst a city is starving within a stone's-throw.' So they +say one to another in the words of my text. + +Now these men's consciousness of the obligation imposed upon them by +the knowledge of glad news, their self-reproach for their silence, +their conviction that retribution would fall on them if it continued, +and their resolve therefore to clear themselves, may all be transferred +to higher regions, and may fairly illustrate Christian responsibilities +and duties. + +I wish to say one or two very homely, plain things about Christian +men's obligation to speech, and the sin of their silence. My remarks +will have no special reference to any particular forms of Christian +activity, but if I succeed in impressing on any a deeper sense of duty +in reference to declaring the Gospel than they possess, then all forms +of it will be prosecuted with greater vigour and consecration. + +I. I wish first to dwell for a moment on that--I was going to use a +plain word and say--_hideous_; I will substitute a milder term, +and say--_remarkable_, fact of Christian silence. + +I take this congregation as a fair average representative of the +ordinary habitudes of professing Christians of this generation. How +many men and women there are sitting in these pews, who, if I asked +them the question, would say that they were Christians? and what +proportion of these, if I asked them the further question, 'Did you +ever tell anybody anything about Jesus Christ?' would say, 'No, never!' +I know this, that in regard to all the recognised and associated forms +of Christian work which cluster round a Christian congregation, it is +the same handful of people that do them all. It is just like the bits +of glass in a kaleidoscope, there are not many of them though you can +shake them up into a great number of patterns, but they are always the +very same bits. So I could go through pew after pew, if it would not be +very personal, and find men and women, one after another--rows of them +--that, so far as any of the united work of a church goes, are +absolutely idle. They are worthy kind of people, too, with some real +religion in them; but yet, partly from shyness, partly from indolence, +partly because (as they think) they have so much else to do, and for a +number of other reasons that I do not need to dwell upon, they fall +into the great army of idlers, and are just so much dead weight and +surplusage, as far as the work of the Church is concerned. + +Now I do not mean to say that, because professing Christian people do +not work in any recognised forms of Christian service which are +attached to a congregation, therefore they are not doing anything. God +forbid! There are many of you, for instance, mothers of families, whose +best service is to speak about Jesus Christ to your children, and to +live according as you speak, and that is work enough for you. There are +many more of us, who, for various legitimate reasons, are precluded +from taking part in organised forms of Christian service. Do not so +fatally misunderstand me as to suppose that I am merely beating a drum +to get recruits for societies. What I want to impress upon every +Christian person listening to me now is simply this, the anomaly of the +fact, if it be a fact, that you are a _dumb_ Christian. You can +all speak, if you will; you all have people with whom your speech is +weighty and powerful. There are doors open before each of you. Ask +yourselves, have you gone in at the open doors? or is it true about you +that you have never felt the obligation to make your Master known to +others, or, at all events, have never felt it so strongly that it +compelled you to obey? The strange fact of Christian silence is one +that I emphasise to begin with. + +II. Let me say a word next about the sin of this silence. + +These four poor lepers had not had much kindness dealt out to them in +their lives, and they might have been pardoned if in their moment of +joy they had remained in the isolation to which they had been condemned +by reason of their disease. But they think to themselves of the hollow +eyes in Samaria there, and the hideous meals, that might stay hunger +but brought no nourishment, and of the king with sackcloth beneath his +royal robes, and, forgetting everything but their abundance and these +people's empty stomachs, they say, '_Not thus_ must we do,' as the +Hebrew might be translated, 'this is a day of good tidings, and we hold +our peace; and that is a sin. And if we continue dumb, then before +morning some kind of punishment will come down upon us.' + +Now, let me put what I have to say on this matter into two sentences. + +First of all, I say that such silence is inhuman. You would all +recognise that in the case of an actual, literal, instead of a +metaphorical, famine. What would you say about a man who contented +himself with sitting in his own back room, where nobody could see his +abundance, and feasting to the full, whilst his fellow-citizens were +dying of starvation? Why! you would say he was a brute. And if +Christian people believed as thoroughly that men and women without 'the +Bread of God which comes down from Heaven' were starving and dying of +hunger, as they believe that men without literal bread must die, there +would not be so many dumb ones amongst them; and they would feel more +distinctly than any of us feel now, the responsibility that is laid +upon them, and the inhumanity of the sin. + +Dear brethren! God has made this strange brotherhood of humanity in +which we live, all intertwined and intertangled together, mainly in +order that there may be scope for brotherly impartation to the needy, +of the gifts that each possesses. And He has given to each of us +something or other which, by the very terms of the gift and the purpose +of the bestowment, we are bound to impart to others. The meaning of our +being born into the brotherhood of humanity is that God's grace, in +some shape or other, may fructify through us to all; and I say that the +man who possesses any kind of gift, and, especially, God's highest +gifts of wisdom and of knowledge, and most of all, the highest gift of +spiritual knowledge and moral and religious truth, and keeps them to +himself, in his idleness is sinfully active, and in his selfishness is +inhuman and cruel. The very constitution of humanity says to us that +'we do not well,' if in the 'day of good tidings' of any sort 'we hold +our peace.' The possession of mere physical or abstract truth does not +turn its possessors into its apostles, but the possession of moral and +spiritual truth does. We are, every one of us, responsible for all the +eyes which we could have opened and which are still dark, and for every +soul that gropes in ignorance, if we possess something that would +enlighten its darkness. + +But then, further, let me say that this sin of silence is in sheer +contradiction of every principle of Christianity. Why has God given you +His grace, do you suppose? For what purpose comes it that you are +Christians? Were you converted that you might go by yourselves into a +solitary heaven, do you think? Are you important enough to be an +ultimate end of God's mercy? Or are you indeed an end, but only that in +your turn you might be a means of transmitting? Does the electric +influence terminate when it reaches you, or is it turned on to you that +from you it may be passed to others? The very purpose of the existence +of a Christian Church is counterworked and thwarted by dumb Christians. +We Nonconformists can talk abundantly when ecclesiastical assumptions +have to be fought against, about the priesthood of all believers. Very +well, if that principle is a true one--and it _is_ a true one--it +has other applications than simply controversial, and is meant for +other uses than simply that you should brandish it in the face of +sacerdotal claims and priest-ridden churches. 'Ye are all priests,' +that is to say, the meaning of the existence of a Christian Church is +to raise up a cloud of witnesses, and make every lip vocal with the +name of Jesus Christ the Lord. And you, dear brethren, you, the idlers +of a church and congregation, are doing all that you can to thwart the +divine purpose, and to destroy the very meaning of the existence of the +church to which you belong. + +And let me remind you, too, that such silence is clearly contrary to +all Christian principle, inasmuch as one main purpose of the Gospel +being given us is to shift our centre from ourselves, first to Christ, +and then, if I may so say, to others. The very thing from which +Christianity is meant to deliver us is the very thing that these idle, +silent believers are indulging in, namely, the possession of God's +gifts for their own profit and enjoyment. What is the use of your +saying that you are Christian people if, in your very religion, you are +practising the very vice that Jesus Christ has come to destroy? +Selfishness is the opposite, the formal contradiction, of Christianity, +and in the measure in which your religion is self-regarding, it is no +religion at all. You are doing your best to counterwork the very main +purpose of the Gospel upon yourselves, when in silence you possess, or +fancy that you possess, the gift of His love. + +And then, still further, let me remind you that this absolutely un- +Christian character of silence is manifested, if you consider that the +end of the Gospel for each of us is to bring us into full and happy +sympathy with Christ, and likeness to Him. And how is that purpose +being effected in His professed 'followers,' if they know nothing of +the experience of looking on the world with Christ's eyes, or of the +thrill of pity caught from Him, and have no sympathy with, in the sense +of any reflected experience of, the sense of obligation to help the +helpless which nailed Him to the Cross? We say that we are followers of +One who 'so loved the world' that He died for it; we say that we long +to be transformed into His likeness, and yet we put away from ourselves +the spirit that regards our brethren as He regarded us all; and never +dream of copying, howsoever feebly in our lives and efforts, the +pattern that was set before us in His death. + +O dear brethren! 'if a man see his brother have need, and shutteth up +his bowels of compassion against him, how dwelleth the love of God in +him?' And if a Christian looks upon a world without Christ, and has +only a tepid sympathy and a faint realisation of the misery, and never +does anything to lighten it by a grain, how can he pretend that he +takes Jesus Christ for his Pattern and Example? Silence is manifestly a +sin by reason of its inhumanity, and its contrariety to every principle +of the Gospel. + +III. Now, still further, let me point you to the retribution on +silence. + +These four men, no doubt, had some superstitious idea that mischief +might come to them in the darkness. But they expressed a truth when +they said, 'If we be silent, some evil'--or, as the word might be +translated, 'some _punishment_ will find us.' I desire to lay this +on your hearts, dear brethren, that like all other selfish things, the +silence of the Christian does him harm instead of good. + +For instance, if you want to learn anything, set yourself to teach it. +In trying to spread the name of Jesus Christ by your own personal +effort, you will get a firmer hold of the truths that you attempt to +impress upon others. I do not know any better cure for a great deal of +unwholesome and superfluous speculation than to go into the slums and +see what it is that tells there. That is a test of what is central and +what is surface, in Christianity. I do not know any better discipline +for a man whose religion is suffering from too much leisure and +curiosity than to take a course of evangelistic work. He will find out +then where the power is, and a great many cobwebs will be blown away. +Be sure of this, that convictions unspoken, like plants grown in a +cellar, will get very white in the stems, and will bear no fruit. Be +sure of this, that a religion which is dumb will very soon tend to lose +its possession of the truth, and that if you carry that great gift hid +away in your heart it will be like locking up some singing-bird in a +box. When you come to open it, the bird will be dead. There are, I have +no doubt, many whom I am now addressing whose religion has all but, if +not entirely, ebbed away from them, mainly because they have all their +days been dumb Christians. That is one part of the punishment. + +And another part is that silence is avenged by the dying out of the +sympathies which inspire speech. It is the punishment of the selfish +man that he becomes more selfish. It is the punishment of the heart, +which never expands in sympathy, that its walls shrivel and contract, +until there is scarcely blood enough between them to be impelled +through the veins. Feelings which it is joy and nobleness to possess +are nurtured and strengthened by expression; and the silent Christian +is punished by becoming at last utterly indifferent to the woes of the +world and to the spread of the Gospel. I think I could lay my finger, +if I dared, on some of my audience who have got perilously near to that +point. + +And then again let me remind you that there is another form of the +punishment, and that is the loss of all the blessed experience of the +reaper's joy; and let me point you in a sentence to the final time of +retribution. There shall stand in that last day, as Scripture teaches +us, humble workers before the Throne who will say, 'Behold! I, and the +children whom Thou hast given me.' And there will stand some before the +Throne, solitary; and I wonder if they will not feel lonely when they +go into heaven, and find not a soul there to look them in the eyes and +say, 'Thou didst lead me to the Christ, and I am here to welcome thee.' +'He that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together.' Do you not +think that then there will steal a shadow of shame across the spirit of +the servant who stood idle in the market-place all the day with the +wretched excuse, 'No man hath hired me,' when the Master had hired him +beforehand, and given him such wages in advance? + +O dear brethren! the cure for silence is to keep near that Master, and +to drink in His Spirit; and then, as I beseech you to do, think, think, +think of your obligations in the light of the Cross until you can say, +'Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints is this _grace +given_,' not this burden imposed, 'that I, even I, should preach' +the Name that is above every name. 'Open Thou my lips, and my mouth +_shall_ shew forth Thy praise.' + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Expositions of Holy Scripture +by Alexander Maclaren + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITIONS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE *** + +This file should be named djjrs10.txt or djjrs10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, djjrs11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, djjrs10a.txt + +Produced by Charles Franks, Anne Folland +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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